


The Mage's Knight In Cold Armor

by Sp1d3rW0lf13



Series: Apprentice to the Betrayer Saga [2]
Category: Illidan Stormrage - Fandom, World of Warcraft
Genre: Azeroth, Corruption, Dark, Death Knight, Eastern Kingdoms, F/M, Family, Family Bonding, Fel Magic, Grief/Mourning, Loss, Mage, Magic, Northrend, Pregnancy, The Scourge, Undead, light - Freeform, new power, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:54:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 78,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27425269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sp1d3rW0lf13/pseuds/Sp1d3rW0lf13
Summary: After the death of her lover, Alyssana Runelight has finally returned home to Azeroth. However, things are not the same ever since she left for Outland long ago! The Lich King has awakened and his army of the limitless undead Scourge are invading both Alliance and Horde cities. With Alyssana struggling to keep her Fel powers under control, another threat seeks to corrupt the already struggling mage. The ghost of a late lover just wasn't enough to torture her!
Relationships: Female Draenei/Male Orc(s) (Warcraft), Illidan Stormrage/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Apprentice to the Betrayer Saga [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2003137
Kudos: 7





	1. Back Home...Peacefully? (Alyssana's POV)

**Author's Note:**

> Characters that are well known to the Warcraft universe belongs to blizzard, however the characters that are created by me, belong to me!

I had let Varian know that I was ready to go to Stormwind to reunite with my son and I was already a nervous wreck due to seeing the ghost of Illidan in that room! But I had to keep my composure as I didn't want to have a mental breakdown in front of my son who I have not seen for 5 years. A day never went by when I didn't think of him. The letters Norwell had given me to observe the life of my son, I feel all went to waste had I known **then** that he would betray me. When me and Varian went through a portal I conjured, we arrived at the Mage Quarters. Oh the memories I had here! As soon as I arrived, everyone just stared at me. I don't blame them though, I did ally myself with Illidan only because I knew of the true threat unlike these clueless buffoons! There was one mage with blonde hair and brown eyes with a slim build who was running up to Varian and me and immediately, I recognised her so I partially hid behind Varian since he was taller and buffer than me.

"Varian, you've returned!" The mage called out then she looked at me with a slightly shocked expression. "And you've brought Alyssana. I'm surprised she's not in chains but my guess is she's been found innocent?"

"Nice to see you again too, Jaina." I monotonously greeted her.

"Likewise!"

"I'm sure you two will get along just great!" Varian sarcastically chuckled. "In all seriousness, Jaina, you look as if something is wrong. Is there?"

"Yes, but I think it's best if we had a talk in the keep." She reckoned. "Just you and me, Varian."

"Alyssana can come with us since you two have some catching up to do!" Varian put in loudly, cutting off Jaina.

Yeah, me and Jaina aren't exactly on good terms. As far as I know, when I was studying, she failed me on a test that I worked so hard on! I did everything by the book, she just wasn't being fair that I was **that** good at Frost magic from when I was only 13! Like how long did it take her to master Frost magic I wonder? Maybe during the forming of the New Horde? I was only a 10 at that time. Now 10 years later, I already mastered all three types of magic, I have a kid and another one on the way, the father of my incoming child is dead and here I am, walking next to the woman that failed my Frost magic test due to bloody jealousy! But, I can't fuss over it right now, I have a son that's waiting for me to meet him and he's more important than that ice witch bitch! As we were making our way through Stormwind, I kept getting a lot of weird looks from the guards and the residents. I'm pretty sure word got around quick that I am free of any charges against me and not a lot of people are happy about it. I don't have time to care about what people think about me neither do I even care! Once we made it to Stormwind Keep, we went to a garden area where there was a place to sit and talk. I sat next to Varian because yet again, I don't want to be anywhere too close to Jaina although regardless, I can tell this conversation's gonna get...awkward.

"So Varian..." Jaina began. "How did you reach an innocent verdict with Alyssana?"

I gave her a 'really' look and I could hear Varian was not too happy about her question as he made a huge sigh through his nose.

"I reviewed the evidence and it proved she was with Illidan unintentionally and her ex-husband was a part of the Cult of the Damned." Varian put simply. "Now, why did you want to see me?"

"Not long ago, I felt something within my soul awaken. As if someone I knew a long time ago has come back alive." Jaina replied.

"Are you certain?" Varian questioned the mage.

"Yes." She answered. "This feeling however, I don't think I can stomach it. It's almost as if I'm being heavily weighed down."

Now I know I had beef with Jaina, but that didn't mean I should be a heartless wench and not step in and help her figure it out!

Although to be fair, I wanted to let her have it but I wanna be a nice girl...for now. "Do you remember anyone who made you feel this way in your past?" I asked her.

Jaina shot a suspicious look at me but then she spoke. "Yes I do. But it's not possible, he can't be alive! I thought he was long gone."

"My king!" A voice called from inside the keep.

_'Jeez, that was quick, but thank goodness! Anything to get me far away from her and her salty ass!'_

A Stormwind guard came running towards us with a horrified look on his face. "Report, soldier! What happened?" Varian commanded.

"An army of undead are approaching Stormwind as we speak, your highness!" he shouted. "I also yet have another report! A small token of the undead had taken a child as well. We tried to stop them but more undead are rising up as we speak!"

I stood up as soon as the guard mentioned a child being taken! "A child? What did he look like?"

The guard froze as soon as he looked at me. I could tell he was frightened about what he was about to say next. "Y-you!" he stuttered. "He looked just like you! Wait, you're his mother aren't you?"

"Alyssana, whatever you do, keep it together!" Varian cautioned me but I could feel the Fel creeping into my veins. "Dammit!"

"What's wrong with her, Varian?" Jaina fretted, taking a step back from the table.

I groaned as I felt the Fel starting to burn within me and my eyesight started to slowly turn green!

"Long story short, she has Fel energy within her that cannot be expelled as she was feeding from it after birth." Varian explained to the clueless mage. "Lately, she has been having trouble keeping it under control and we cannot risk her becoming fully corrupted...or her child may suffer."

"A child?!" she exclaimed. "I thought-"

"She's pregnant, Jaina! She needs to calm down, now!" Varian shouted as the Fel within my body began to acclimate and I started to feel pain. "Alyssana, please! Control yourself! Fight the Fel! Fight the corruption!"

"Alyssana, look at me!" Jaina ordered me, but all I could do was snarl at her.

Then she waved her hand in front of me, using her magic to get into my head!

_"Shh, it's okay. We'll find your son together. I know we're not exactly friendly with each other, but with our magic combined, we can take down the undead and bring your son back from their rotten hands. You just need to stay calm! Think about your baby."_

And so I did and I started breathing in and out harshly as the Fel energy subsided and I gained my self-consciousness again. "Thanks for saving me." I thanked her as I shook my head to snap out of my withdrawal of Fel.

"We're going to have to somehow get that Fel corruption under control." Jaina commented and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Ya think?!"

 _'Bitch, it's obvious ain't it?!'_ I thought.

"Enough with the bickering, Alyssana!" Varian exasperated. "Go with Jaina and find your son! We'll deal with the undead!"

I nodded and both me and Jaina teleported outside the keep, only to almost get eaten by a Frostbrood wyrm! With my Fire magic, I shot a fireball at it and once it hit, it tried to fly away but the fire burnt its wing joints and it immediately went down into the ocean, near the docks.

"Nice shot!" Jaina complimented me. "Come on, we have to get moving!"

We were able to get through to the outskirts of Stormwind and we were about to arrive in Goldshire but we had to take a detour as it was being overrun by the Scourge.

"Wait! We can't just leave them to suffer!" I shouted, feeling guilty as I was running around to go past the village.

"There's no time to waste!" Jaina shouted back.

My sense of duty started to overrun my mind and I looked back. "No! I won't leave them! I won't let them die on my watch!" I barked and I quickly ran back to the village.

I heard Jaina groan out loud in annoyance but then I saw her follow me and I used my magic to levitate in the air to get a clear view of the Scourge! One of them saw me and they shouted something as if to draw attention to me.

"Alyssana, you've got their attention, now what?" Jaina yelled to me.

"Hold them off! Stall them!" I commanded as I began to focus my magic.

"Imago arcane!" I shouted a spell and I started to set the Scourge minions on fire. "Jaina, make sure the buildings don't get caught on fire and conjure a shield! Everyone to Jaina Proudmoore now!!!"

Everyone down below me started to run towards Jaina to get into her shield while I burned the remaining Scourge to ashes! Once they were obliterated, I levitated back down and I looked back at everyone, including Jaina.

"Is everybody alright?" I asked the people of Goldshire.

The whole majority of them nodded and they cheered for me and Jaina and they went back to normal business whilst keeping an eye out for any undead Scourge.

"How did you get so powerful?" Jaina marvelled.

"Illidan." I simply answered. "Come on, we've got to get to Marenus before it's too late!"

Jaina nodded in agreement, but then we were stopped by a resident of Goldshire who was holding two horses by their reigns.

"Ladies, I think ya'll need these babies to get ya to the Eastern Plaguelands." He greeted us.

"The Eastern Plaguelands?" Jaina asked the man.

"Yep! That's where all them undead are comin' from! I also saw a knight on a horse that had the stench of death 'round 'im. That's the varmint that took poor Marenus and there were 'o couple more whippersnappers like 'im, talk'n about going back to the Eastern Plaguelands." he replied. "Young Alyssana, I've heard o' you but I always had a feel'n you were doing the wrong thing for the right reason. Marenus is well known 'round these parts, he's a good lad and he mentioned this 'ere lovely horse would be your type o' companion to get 'round."

The horse was black as night and its mane was in tight curls. Its reigns were handed over to me and the horse greeted me with a snort which put a smile on my face as I stroked its lovely mane!

"Yer son done named 'im Darkhoof." He mentioned. "I dunno why but it seems pretty explanatory if ya look at his gorgeous hooves."

I looked down at the hooves and they were completely black! It's as if my son knows me too well or something. I thanked the man and Jaina was given the other horse which was white as snow and we both rode off towards the Eastern Plaguelands.

"Why was it that you stayed with Illidan? Didn't you have a chance to escape?" Jaina asked me out loud.

"I stayed with Illidan because we had a connection and he wanted to teach me how to use Arcane magic more efficiently and effectively!" I responded out loud, but then I stopped Darkhoof and so did Jaina with her horse. "Just so you know, I had multiple chances to escape. I thought I would stay just for the benefit of gaining more knowledge of the Arcane and more ways to use it. Then...once he made ' **the move** ', I thought at first I'd go along with it and use his attraction to me as an advantage for me to escape, but then I too found myself attracted to him. Once he told me he loved me, the rest was history. Now he's dead...all because of me."

Jaina had a sad look on her face the whole time I explained what happened at Outland and how me and Illidan fell for each other. She gestured her horse to come close to mine and she put her left hand on my left shoulder.

"The fact that he genuinely loved you enough to propose to you and to want to have a family with you, says something." she comforted me. "I actually thought he was evil but you've shown that he's not all that evil and that he can have a soft side. But don't you ever, and I mean don't **ever** blame yourself for his death! He loved you so much that he died for you and your baby."

I smiled at her and I felt the need to cry again due to how I described Illidan in such a way that made me miss him even more.

I tried to hold it in but I broke. "I'd give anything to be in his arms again, Jaina! He made me feel safe, respected and he always listened to me! He's the only man who ever loved me the way I wanted to be loved!!!" I wailed, feeling my heart break with every word I spoke.

Darkhoof neighed loudly, making me stop crying and I stroked his mane to calm him down. "Whoa, whoa it's okay, I'm okay! It's alright, Darkhoof, y-you cheered me up now, I'm okay!"

Jaina laughed and patted my shoulder, gesturing that we must get a move on and we continued to ride our horses onward to the Eastern Plaguelands. We made it to the bridge that lead to the Redridge Mountains and we had to stop by Lakeshire to rest. The guards were, well on guard incase any undead Scourge come their way. After getting some supplies, we checked in at the Inn and we went to our room that had two beds in it. I put down my personal satchel and brought out my pyjamas and I used my magic to quickly change in them with just a simple click of my fingers. Jaina looked at me weird but kept going about her business!

**_That night..._ **

I sat on the bed with some conjured rainbow cookies looking at the map of the Eastern Kingdoms in candlelight and my heart sank when I realised how far the Eastern Plaguelands really were! We'd have to journey through the Burning Steppes, the Badlands, Loch Modan, the bloody Wetlands, the Arathi Highlands which was once under leadership of the kingdom of Stromgarde which is now in ruins and then after getting through the Hinterlands, we'd finally get to the Eastern Plaguelands.

"Oh geez!" I exclaimed in slight panic.

"What's wrong?" Jaina asked me as she walked up to me with two mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows in it. "Here, I thought that you may want this after that little 'bout you had earlier."

I took the mug in my hand, holding it by the handle and I smiled at Jaina, thanking her for being thoughtful. "If I've studied this map correctly and estimated the time, it'd take days for us to get to the Eastern Plaguelands." I worried as I pointed at our current location on the map, the Redridge Mountains and slid my finger all the way to the Eastern Plaguelands. "If we get there by then, it'll probably be too late to save my son."

"Dear god!" Jaina shared my worry as she too looked at the map and even stole a cookie, which I didn't mind at all because they're delicious. "Who knows what the undead would do with your son! I'll have to talk to the flight master about this tomorrow morning and see if he can lend us a gryphon or two to get there fast."

"But what about our horses?" I blurted to her after I took a sip of the piping hot chocolate and set it on my side table.

"They'll be fine at the stables!" Jaina reassured me as she sat down on her bed. "Once we rescue your son, we'll come back for Darkhoof and Snowflake."

I cocked my head to the side as she said the last name and I suddenly bursted out laughing. "You named your horse 'Snowflake'?!" I guffawed, slapping my knee and all Jaina did was give me an unimpressed look. "Oh come on, Jaina, it's a cute name!"

She just shook her head and chuckled after taking a bite of the rainbow cookie she stole. "You know, never once have I ever seen you this joyful while you were studying. Now after everything that happened, you've changed. You're not as timid anymore and you've become more confident and you have this thing about you that says you're your own boss. I think being with Illidan and him falling in love with you was what you needed in my opinion."

I giggled as a response and I went back to grab my hot chocolate to drink a little more and I ate two of the marshmallows that still haven't fully dissolved. Using my magic again, I brought out a plushie that was handmade for the baby, then I remembered I never really gave it a good look. When I fully paid attention to the details, I realised this plushie looked like Illidan! Horns, wings, hooves, eyes, warglaives and all in between. I felt a little sad knowing that when my child is born, it will never see its father. Later, my sadness turned into depression and it settled in swiftly! I put away the map and got comfy under the covers, cuddling the plushie.

"Are you alright?" Jaina asked me with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I stated quickly, trying to hide my depression. "I might doze off to sleep soon."

"Alright, we'll have to get up extremely early in the morning to get a head start to the Eastern Plaguelands." Jaina whispered to me, trying not to wake the others who might be staying at the Inn. "Goodnight, Alyssana. Try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Mmhm! Goodnight Jaina!" I hummed quietly and I used my magic to snuff out the candles.

There I laid in the darkness of the room, the light of the moon faintly lighting my side of the room as well as my face. I thought about what life would like with Illidan as a normal night elf and honestly, since he scorched out his eyes, I think he'd go blind! But, if he still can wield magic then maybe he'd use it to able to see. Then my thoughts spiralled out of control! I started thinking about the "ifs" and "buts" and the "could've", "should've", "would've" of what it'd be like having a life with Illidan. Before I could silently go crazy, at the corner of the room, I saw two green eyes alit! Prior to my reaction, I heard a whisper that I swear I heard it before back in Darnassus. Illidan?

_"Close your eyes and sleep, my love."_

Unable to control myself, I did as the whisper told me and I fell into a deep sleep...


	2. Bound to You (Alyssana's POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alyssana finds herself in a vivid dream in a place that looked like Outland but more shattered. When a familiar voice calls to her, she reaches out to find the source of the voice and recognises the source of it!

_"Alyssana..."_

"..."

_"Sweetheart, wake up..."_

"..."

_"Dalah'surfal."_

My eyes shot open to a broken land that reminded me of Outland. But for what I know, this place looked nothing like it! Did I die? Did Azeroth break or something? Why do I keep hearing this voice in my head? What's going on?

_"My love...follow my voice..."_

Illidan! Wait...why am I hearing Illidan's voice in this place?

_"Hurry to me, now!"_

"Illidan? Where are you?" I called out in the seemingly endless land and my voice echoed.

_"Just follow my voice!"_

I growled in frustration and I started running towards the sound of Illidan's voice.

_"Be careful! The ground you run upon is not very stable!"_

I looked down at the ground and I realised that there was a huge space between this piece of land and another one. I looked around and thought _'How am I gonna get around? Can I even use my magic here?'_

_"Yes you can! Just be careful, demons are around and they will be attracted to your magic!"_

Aw fuck, as if it couldn't get any worse! Using a bit of Frost magic, I created a temporary bridge to the land I'm standing on to the other and I quickly crossed it! The bridge melted away as soon as I got to the other side and I could hear demonic laughter. Without wasting time to think about who's laughing, I concentrated on Illidan's voice and continued making bridges on broken pieces of ground.

_"That's it, keep going! I'm not that far!"_

His voice sounded loud as if he was just over 50 feet away, I'm getting close! Then I briefly looked back and saw demons of every kind chasing me, almost closely behind!

"I'll burn your kneecaps off!" shouted an Imp.

"Finally, a new toy to play with!" taunted a succubus.

I kept running like mad, casting more bridge spells and some Frost wall spells to try and keep them off me, but it would be broken every time. I looked ahead of where I was going and I saw a ghostly image of Illidan! Then I realised there was a massive gap between me and him. The demons were coming and if I used my magic to go any further, I might attract a bigger and badder demon.

"Use your magic, Alyssana! I'll cover you!" he shouted from across the field.

Without hesitation, I blasted an icy wave, creating a massive bridge and I kept casting as I ran across with the demons getting closer behind me! Illidan started shooting Fel fireballs at the demons, pushing them back and once I reached him, he let out a huge roar that echoed throughout the place and the demons ran for their lives. I watched as they ran and the bridge melted away. I turned to face Illidan only to be caught in an embrace that I've been craving for so damn long! He pulled away a little to see my face, contorted as I cried hard and wailing loudly.

"Aww, my sweet love!" he sighed sadly, almost sounding as if he was about to cry too. "Shhh, it's okay. I'm here. We're together now, it's alright."

A long comforting kiss was shared between us, instantly helping my emotional and mental state become balanced and Illidan pulled away to give me multiple kisses all over my face. This made me laugh as his kisses tickled me too much! As soon as he stopped, I gazed into his eyes, sensing that he was very happy to see me.

"How is this possible though?" I asked him which made his expression change quickly from happy to worried. "You died right in front of me..."

"This is not going to be easy to understand and process, so do me a favour and be open minded, my love." He calmly informed me as he put me back on the ground.

"I'm listening." I replied, looking up at him in wonder and my cheeks still wet with tears.

"Remember when I told you that I had to do a little errand? A few weeks before I died?" He reminded me. "I was going there to make you the Hearthstone...but there was something else too and honestly, this is going to sound very selfish of me."

My breathing started to become shaky as I asked him to continue. "Go on?"

"I asked a Naga Witch to enforce an enchantment within me for if I died." Illidan revealed to me, making my eyes open widely. "The reason why I said it was selfish was because even in death, I still wanted to be with you and remain in contact, but..."

My shaky breathing stopped only to be replaced with steadiness and I was prepared to lose my shit. "But...what?"

He noticed the way I was looking at him and gulped in nervousness. "...the consequence was that your Fel magic would be almost uncontrollable-"

"You knew this and you went with it anyway?!" I screamed. "We both know that Fel magic feeds on life itself in every form! I could've killed our baby, Illidan!!!"

"Hold on, I'm getting to that, just listen to me!!!" Illidan yelled back at me, then he took a breather to calm down. "Your Fel magic would be powerful but it wouldn't be easy to control. Hence why I mentioned to you back in Darnassus to speak with that Draenei Prophet you were talking to!"

"Well, I couldn't at that time." I argued. "I found out when I came to Stormwind that Marenus was kidnapped, so in my waking life, I'm on a journey to save him from the undead!"

Illidan was growling as I was yelling at him but then he stopped when I mentioned "undead."

"Did you just say 'undead'?" He asked me with a fearful look in his eyes.

"Yes! I encountered them on my way to save Marenus." I replied, thinking we were still arguing.

Illidan just stayed silent, looking away from me as if he was afraid of something.

"I-Illidan?" I said to him to try and snap him out of his thoughts.

He looked at me as if he had seen a ghost. "Once you save your son, you need to go back to Darnassus and stay there." he replied to me as if he was giving out an order.

"Why?! I can still fight!" I exclaimed in protest.

"Not when the Lich King is awake!" Illidan boomed, making my chest rumble at his loud voice that echoed throughout my ribcage and he lost it! "Why are we arguing about this when we should be spending time together while we still can?! I didn't get my damned self killed for nothing!!!"

Being the sensitive crybaby I am, my tears started to slowly came back and it burned my tear ducts. Illidan huffed with a guilty expression and sat down on a nearby boulder.

"You know how much I hate it when you cry? Especially when **I'm** the cause of it?" Illidan wept and I saw that his blindfold was a little bit wet where the eyes would be. "Especially when I should know by now how emotional you can be and yet here I am, being the monster I truly am! Dammit, why am I like this?!"

I walked over to him and I grabbed his big hands and held them in mine and looked at him in the eye.

"It's normal to fight with each other over things big and small." I said to him. "Just as long as it's not consistent."

Illidan smiled at me and I nuzzled his forehead with mine.

"Although, I think you're forgetting one thing too, Illidan. I just realised this." I chuckled. "We made love while you were in full demon form! So I think the baby has some resistance."

Illidan's "eyes" went wide and he laughed out loud. "Why didn't I think of that?! I'm such an idiot!"

Illidan started rolling on the floor laughing and I laughed along with him, almost wheezing and I nearly fell on the floor laughing hard!

After calming down from laughing a lot, Illidan sat back on the Boulder he was sitting on before. "Still, that doesn't mean you can't be careful." Illidan warned me as he gestured me to sit on his lap. "I don't want my baby girl succumbing to the Fel **AND** I don't want you putting yourself in danger very often, now that you told me about the undead."

"I know, Illidan." I sighed as I leaned my head on his right shoulder. "But that doesn't mean I can't fight for the Alliance. When I can't hold it back anymore, I'll go back to Darnassus and wait until after I've given birth."

"No, after you've given birth, you'll need to rest for a long time." Illidan lectured me. "Even Tyrande will tell you that!"

I groaned, knowing he was right. I remembered when I gave birth to Marenus that I had to wait a week before I could stand up again. That childbirth really killed my legs so who knows how it will be this time with this one! A human night-elf-demon hybrid? I can imagine that I will be bedridden for a while! But that's what comes with giving birth to a child. When I had Marenus, I didn't want him to grow up knowing his father was dead because of me. Now he knows and I don't know how he feels about it, but Varian did say he arranged a meeting for me and Marenus. When I give birth to this one, it will know its father was a good man and a great fighter! I cuddled Illidan, smothering my face into the crook of his neck and he wrapped his arms tightly around me, kissing the side of my forehead.

"Kenethil'surfas." Illidan whispered to me.

"Kenethil'surfas." I repeated to him as I moved my head up to face him.

"That's my girl." He smiled at me.

"So...was Darnassus to your liking at all?" Illidan asked me. "I mean as a place to live."

"Oh yeah, it's beautiful!" I ecstatically replied. "I didn't think Night Elves could live in such beautiful places! Unlike Stormwind where it's all...bland."

"Really? It's that bad?" Illidan chuckled, almost as if he was about to laugh again.

"Yeah, as much as I'd love to live in a kingdom, I'd rather a place like Darnassus." I chattered. "I did run into a late friend's sister who I knew. She used to be a priestess but now she's a Rogue."

"You know too many Rogues!" Illidan scoffed. "I wouldn't say make friends with a tree-hugger, but I'd rather that over a freak'n Rogue!"

I had this sudden urge to mount myself on Illidan so I straddled his lap, facing him and I even gave him "the look".

"Oh cheeky, are we?" he hummed, biting his bottom lip. "Too bad we don't have a bed."

"Well, maybe if you focused hard enough in the physical world, maybe we could have a little fun." I suggested to him, sounding like a seductress. "I've never had sex with a ghost before."

He growled playfully and I felt his big hands grab my ass to squeeze it a little. "That depends if you have a secluded place to live in Darnassus."

"At least I hope I do." I sighed. "Now that we can talk to each other like this, I wanna be able to spend as much time as I can with you."

"I know, I want to as well. Hence why I got myself enchanted to forever be bound to your soul." Illidan chuckled and he snuggled me tightly.

Suddenly, I felt as if I was getting lighter in weight and I was being pulled away from Illidan by an unknown force!

"Illidan? W-what's happening to me?" I shuddered, trying to push against the forceful pull and grabbing onto Illidan's shoulders.

"No, no!" Illidan panicked. "Listen to me, Alyssana. This is the only way we can talk to each other from now on! I can only get into the physical world for a short amount of time!"

"Illidan!" I cried out, trying to hold on to him but my hands slipped through his shoulders as my form started to fade away. "No, don't let me go! Don't let me go!!! What's happening?!"

"You're waking up, dalah'surfal!" Illidan shouted as I faded even more from this weird world into my waking life and the pull became much stronger and I was rapidly flung backwards. "Alyssana!!!"

_"I will be with you again, my love! I won't abandon you!!!"_


	3. A Dark Rebirth (???'s POV)

**_Hours earlier before Alyssana's arrival..._ **

_It felt like the pain I endured during my final moments had come back but a thousand times worse..._   
_I had failed my master, but at the cost of losing someone I had loved..._   
_I didn't think she'd be so powerful and neither did I think she wouldn't follow along with my plans for our freedom but at the same time, I regretted falling for her..._   
_But when I did, of course one thing lead to another, but even when I burnt to death, the look in her eyes...I can never forget them..._

**Her eyes!**

_I've never felt so guilty, yet I don't think I've ever had my heart broken like that..._   
_She was so full of love and her personality, so bubbly and happy..._   
_But when my time came, she changed..._

When I was awakened, the pain I felt as I died came back, but even more worse than before. It felt as if my now dead skin was singed to the bone and yet, when the pain subsided, I instantly felt cold.

I looked at my surroundings to see a figure fully armored and as soon as he turned around, he spoke. "All that I am; anger, cruelty, vengeance, I bestow upon you, my chosen death knight."

It was as if I was immobilised, just listening to his words.

"I have granted you immortality so that you may herald a new, dark age for the Scourge." he continued. "Gaze upon the lands below us. The Scarlet Crusade scurries to undo my work, while Light's Hope stands defiantly against us, a blemish upon these Plaguelands. They must all be shown the price of their defiance. You will become my force of retribution. Where you tread, doom will follow. Go now and claim your destiny, Soulterror."

I never remembered my name, but I do remember that the Lich King is my master. Once I had emblazoned a blade for myself, I met up with the three San'layn Princes, Valanar, Keleseth and Taldaram and I did my tasks to please the Lich King and bring an end to The Scarlet Crusade. Countless times, I've been told that I was once a ruthless man before I became undead and they weren't kidding. Although, there was one person that almost threw me off my ruthlessness.

_"Wait! Don't you recognise me? We used to go to Dalaran to visit some girl you liked! She's become a woman now and she's changed a lot ever since your death! But everyone's afraid of her now! Please, spare me! If you kill me, you may never know who you truly are!"_

After killing him, I couldn't stop thinking about what he said. Some girl I liked? Everyone's afraid of her now? You can be sure that I may not have any idea who this woman is, but I'm certainly not afraid of her! However, when he mentioned a place named Dalaran, I started having mini-flashbacks of my life as part of the living. That girl...she definitely looked beautiful but everything else was a blur! I felt frustrated when I couldn't remember who I was in my past life, but that doesn't matter right now. Highlord Darion Mograine had heard of my amnesia after I was awakened and he summoned me to talk to some peasant boy that could help jog my memory. I doubted it but I went to see this boy anyway. As soon as I saw him, that mini-flashback I had of that girl came back! Their features looked the same...perhaps a relative?

"Get me out of here! Let me out!" the boy screamed.

"Not while you're under watch by me." I scoffed. "Who are you?"

"Does it really matter to you, death knight?" the boy retaliated. "Know this, my mother will come and save me! I've heard of how powerful she's become and she will not hesitate casting a spell or two of pain upon you!"

"Oh, she's a warlock? A mage perhaps? I'm so scared!" I laughed with sarcasm.

"You should be scared!" the boy squeaked. "Even though she's been away for 5 years after she killed my dad, I've been told that she never stopped thinking about me. She stayed away out of fear that I might hate her for killing my dad. But knowing who he is and what he was planning to do with me as soon as I would be born, I'm glad he's dead. I'm glad mama killed him!"

"She killed your father before you were born?" I asked him, curious about what he was rambling about.

"That's what I said!" the boy replied. "But I can't imagine what she would've gone through, trying to forget about dad and what she did. When I was told she was working together with a demon, I thought he might've forced her to do so. Turns out I was wrong..."

This woman the boy was talking about had for some reason sparked interest in me, so I tried prying him further. "She worked with a demon willingly?"

"None of that is any of your business!" He growled. "Just leave me alone, buzz off!"

Dammit! Well I tried anyway! After I came out of the chamber, I was summoned by Highlord Darion Mograine and he gave me yet another task to complete tomorrow with a few fellow knights.

**_A day after Alyssana's arrival in Stormwind..._ **

We had ravaged the remaining pawns The Scarlet Crusade who now call themselves The Scarlet Onslaught only to find that a small token of them had retreated to Northrend. Because of that, we'll have to deal with those foolish mongrels later! We had new orders to ride to Browman's Hill where the Light's Hope Chapel lies in hindsight and we had rendezvoused with Highlord Darion Mograine and a few others. There was a moment of silence until it was broken by the Highlord himself!

"Soldiers of the Scourge, stand ready!" he shouted. "Prepare to unleash your fury upon The Argent Dawn!"

Many more death knights had approached us, getting into position to charge into battle while Darion continued on with his battle cries.

"The sky weeps at the glorious devastation of these lands! Azeroth's futile tears will rain down upon us!"

Suddenly I felt a nudge on my right arm and it was just a Draenei death knight, nodding at me to let me know that the time for battle will come soon. Her name was Edua Doomlight. She was formerly known as Edua Brightlight but given how she embraced her fate as a death knight, she changed her last name to Doomlight. As beautiful as she was, she knew how to act crazy and end a battle with a lot of blood and gore!

"Death Knights of Archeus! The death march begins!" the Highlord shouted a battle cry. "Soldiers of the Scourge, Death Knights of Archeus, minions of darkness; hear the call of the Highlord! **RISE!** "

Thousands of the undead Scourge were being raised around us and I could hear faint chattering among the Death Knights, excited for the slaughtering and the invasion of Light's Hope Chapel. Then I saw a small splatter of blood on my gauntlets and I looked up at the skies above only to notice it was raining blood all around!

"The skies turn red with the blood of the fallen!" the Highlord shouted another battle cry, rallying the undead. "The Lich King watches over us, minions! Leave only ashes and misery in your destructive wake!"

With that, we had rode towards the chapel, the undead roaring with fierceness and the rhythmic thundering of our horses' hooves made the ground vibrate with intensity. I felt a sick and twisted kind of pleasure as my sword slashed a couple of paladins in half and even some of them having their heads lopped off by yours truly. Even Edua was having fun making a few paladins explode from the inside out, their blood and organs splattering everywhere as she laughed in joyful insanity!

"Obey me blade!" I heard Darion shouting.

I saw he was becoming overwhelmed by some Argent Dawn forces and I quickly rode to him to aid him.

"My lord, I will aid you!" I cried out to him.

"I'm fine, Soulterror! Go, I can deal with these mongrels myself!" he commanded me and with a frustrated grunt, I turned my horse away and kept slicing down more paladins.

I dismissed my horse and with a war cry, I charged at a helpless paladin and struck him at the heart! I joined Edua to fight off the paladins but I couldn't ignore Darion. He kept going on about his blade, the Ashbringer, not obeying his command to strike at our enemies.

"Are you sure he doesn't need our aid?" Edua asked me with a growl.

"No, he turned me away when I tried to offer him so!" I answered, slicing a paladin's head off.

"You cannot win, Darion!" yelled an elderly but hoarsely voiced man.

"Is that...Tirion Fordring?" Edua asked me again with a fearful look in her eyes that I've never seen before.

Before I could answer her, the man held out his hands and held us and the other death knights down. "Bring them before the chapel!"

Me, Darion, Edua and the other death knights were brought to our knees before the man himself.

"Stand down, death knights!" Darion shouted an order to surrender. "We have lost. The Light...this place...no hope..."

The man walked in front of Darion and I was going to prepare myself to strike but the Light's hold on me was too strong.

"Have you learned nothing boy?" The man started off, insulting our Highlord. "You have become all that your father fought against! Like that coward, Arthas, you allowed yourself to be consumed by the darkness, the hate...feeding upon the misery of those you tortured and killed! Your master knows what lies beneath the chapel! That's why he dares not show his face! He's sent you and your death knights to meet their doom, Darion."

I had to hold in a gasp at that point! Did we really fall into a death trap? All set up by the Lich King himself?!

"What you are feeling right now is the anguish of a thousand lost souls!" the old man continued. "Souls that you and your master brought here! The Light will tear you apart, Darion!"

"Save your breath, old man." Our Highlord countered with a spit at the man's feet. "It might be the last you ever draw."

I tried to usher a word but I couldn't get anything out from my voice.

"Save yourself the trouble, Soulterror!" the man growled. "The Light has silenced you of all people."

"Why is he silenced?!" Edua strained a shout.

"I know who he is...and what he has done to someone that brought him to his death in the first place." the man answered as he glared at me and started walking towards me. "Someone I knew when she was just an infant."

"Don't tell him anything, Tirion! He doesn't need to know who he was in his past life!" Darion growled.

_'So that really is Tirion Fordring.'_ I thought.

"And what's stopping you from remembering who you were in your past life?" Tirion lectured our Highlord.


	4. A Mistake Long Forgotten (Alyssana's POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alyssana along with Jaina continues the search for her son, only to end up finding out that someone from her past has been reborn as a death knight.

**_5 hours before the Battle at Light's Hope Chapel..._ **

_"I will find you again, my love! I won't abandon you!"_

I abruptly woke up sweating like a pig and gasping for air, then I looked around the room to see no sign of Jaina anywhere!

 _'She's probably gone to get our gryphons ready-wait what time is it?'_ I thought then I looked at a nearby clock.

**8:30 AM**

_"What the?! Dammit, Illidan!"_

Once I realised I had overslept, I quickly got myself changed and made myself look a little decent. I had the front of my hair split into two large halves and placed on both sides and the rest I tied up in a high ponytail, almost like Illidan's hair. I didn't do makeup obviously because I don't have the time for it, but I did don a necklace with Illidan's hearthstone that he made me. As I was putting on the necklace, the light in the spiral of the hearthstone started to flicker as if it was mimicking a heartbeat.

_"I told you I will never abandon you. Because of our soulbond, you wield a portion of my power. With that and your war glaives, you'll be unstoppable."_

After that whisper, my heart started to race and I had to calm down because I knew who it was that was whispering to me. I forced myself to calm down and as soon as I was ready, I ran downstairs and out of the Inn to find Jaina crossing her arms looking frustrated.

"About time you got up!" She groaned. "I was trying to wake you but you wouldn't budge!"

"Sorry." I apologised. "Are the gryphons ready to go? What about Snowflake and Darkhoof?"

"They're both in the stables and we must leave now." Jaina replied, gesturing to the two gryphons awaiting us.

I nodded to Jaina and we both got on our gryphons and we took to the skies at a high speed! It's been so long since I've ridden a gryphon this high up and I could tell Jaina was happy too.

"I even heard you mumbling in your sleep when I tried to wake you up." Jaina chattered. "Were you dreaming?"

Not knowing how to fully explain it to Jaina, I tried to come up with a lie. "Yes I was. But it was so vivid that it felt real!"

"Felt real? Like anything that touched you felt real?" Jaina asked me.

 _'More like someone.'_ I thought to myself.

I nodded in reply and I looked down to see where we're flying over and I could see a bridge leading to a land covered in decay and...mushrooms?

"I think we're in the Plaguelands!" Jaina shouted to me.

"What the-already?!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah! Let's find a place to land and let's go find your son!" Jaina shouted to me again.

I nodded to her and we gestured our gryphons to land at a place that wasn't surrounded by enemies. Once we landed, Jaina gestured the gryphons to fly off but to keep an eye on us from the skies and we started walking into the Eastern Plaguelands. I felt a cold chill down my spine as I saw a rotting corpse on the sideway and I thought I saw it twitch! I cast a fireball spell at the corpse only to realise it hasn't moved at all. Jaina raised an eyebrow at me but then shook her head with a smile.

"So you have vivid dreams too?" Jaina asked me.

"You too?" I countered.

"Yeah. I know you hate hearing his name, but I keep dreaming about the time when Arthas and me were together." She replied, her voice sounding a little sad. "When I heard about what he did, a part of me was glad that we fell apart."

As much as I hate the name Arthas, I did know that he and Jaina were an item long ago. I heard of how he broke things off and how Jaina understood, but I know deep down that the moment she was alone, she would've broke. I know I would because after Ludwig, I did try to see other people, but every single one of them were either idiots, played around too much or they just weren't interesting to me at all. I'm actually thankful I ended up with Illidan! He may be a demon and he has tons of flaws, but he knows how to treat a lady right.

"I know the feeling." I said aloud.

"And I know **why** you say that, too." Jaina replied. "I can't imagine what you were feeling when you found your ex-husband with another woman, but it's too scary for me to imagine the feeling of killing him."

"You wouldn't want to know." I shivered. "It's a horrible feeling, first of all. It's only when you...dispose of someone that way over and over again that you begin to feel nothing. It almost feels...natural."

"It's also very disturbing the way you put it." Jaina scoffed.

"Well, you mentioned what it'd be like, so I provided you with the knowledge!" I said to her sarcastically before I started laughing out loud.

Then Jaina slapped her hand on my mouth to silence me and she put her finger to her lips to hush me. "Unless you want us to get killed by nearby undead, I suggest we just talk quietly. No laughing!" she harshly whispered to me and I nodded in understanding. "We must get to a nearby Alliance base. Ask them questions of where we could find your son."

I nodded to her again in agreement and we set off to find the nearest Alliance settlement. We were going past a farm stead that seemed to be in complete ruins and there was a sign that read "Marris Stead." Although I did see a house that looked to be still intact but I felt a cold chill down my spine as soon as I looked at it. Jaina noticed this and pulled me away by my shoulder and gestured me not to go further.

"A great Alliance hero once lived there, but no knows what happened to him." Jaina spoke to me quietly.

Then I saw a tower that bore the Alliance flag and me and Jaina looked at each other and we sprinted towards the place. Thankfully, there were people there and we went to talk to a nearby guard.

"Ah, Jaina Proudmoore!" the guard welcomed Jaina warmly. "What brings yer to these cursed lands? And who's this lass?"

I rose my eyebrows at the man when he called me a "lass"! Then Jaina chuckled and began to explain why we were here. "We've come here on a rescue mission. Have you or the other guards seen a boy being carried off?"

"Yer talking about Marenus?" The guard perplexed. "Lassie, we dare not go near that place where the boy was taken."

"Where was he taken?" I spoke up. "Where's my son?"

"You're his mother?" The guard gasped. "That boy is very lucky to have ya as his mother if you're coming to save 'im too! As I was saying, we did try to go after some dark look'n Knight but he kept raisin' undead as he rode off and we lost him."

I sighed heavily knowing that whoever took my son must've been a necromancer. "I see. Do you have any idea where he may have gone off to?" I asked the guard.

Just before he could answer, a man came towards us and answered for him. "We do ma'am! You see that floating fortress up there?"

Me and Jaina spotted the floating fortress which seemed to be miles away but it was in clear view! Looking at the structure of it made me quiver with rage. If the Cult Of The Damned has taken my son, their lives will be forfeit! We thanked the guards for their information and we both started making our way towards the fortress. We were about to pass by another Alliance tower and we were stopped by the guards at the crossroads.

"Have you two come to aid us?" One of the guards panicked. "The cursed Death Knights are attacking Light's Hope Chapel! We need more allies!"

I looked at Jaina and she nodded in understanding. "Yes, we have come to aid the Paladins at the Chapel."

"I know Tirion Fordring is a good man and a fighter but those Death Knights are not to be underestimated!" The guard panicked again.

Once we made our way to the chapel that was east to where the bridge was, we saw the battle that was occurring between the death knights and the paladins.

"There's too many of them for us both to handle!" Jaina growled. "Wait...is that Highlord Tirion Fordring in the distance?"

"Better get a closer look, but we have to remain unseen." I suggested and I quickly cast an invisibility spell so me and Jaina could hide and we watched what unfolded.

The death knights were bowing before Tirion Fordring as if they were surrendering. I could overhear that the leader had to kneel as the Light surrounding the chapel was too strong. Tirion started rambling about how the leader became everything his father fought against and he gave in to the darkness like Arthas did.

"Damn, he's really getting burnt bad!" I wheezed quietly, trying not to laugh out loud. "Sorry, I just find this funny somehow."

Jaina rolled her eyes at me and kept watching Tirion ramble on. "Do you see anyone you recognise there? I do see Thassarian but I don't recognise anyone else."

I shook my head. "Nah, I can't see from here!"

Then she cast a spell that conjured some sort of flat circular glass and she gave it to me. "What the heck am I supposed to do with this thing?" I questioned with a weird look.

"Look through it!" Jaina scoffed with a sarcastic smile.

I held the glass in front of me and I could see things much more clearly and zoomed in! I could even point out the leader of the death knights and his minions that were from various races.

"So it's a telescope." I stated to Jaina.

"It is a telescope even though it doesn't look like a telescope." Jaina joked to me but I wasn't laughing.

"Ha ha ha, very funny!" I mocked in a monotone voice and rolled my eyes at her.

_'Seriously, it wasn't even that funny!'_

I continued looking through the glass and I thought I saw somebody familiar. Too familiar! Jaina knew what I was thinking as she saw my face go from squinting to gobsmacked.

"Did you see somebody?" She asked me.

I froze up! I literally couldn't speak because the person I saw looked exactly like...

_'No. No, this can't be right. I thought he was dead!'_

"Alyssana!" Jaina harshly whispered to me as she nudged my arm, distracting me from my thoughts. "Can you see anybody you recognise?"

I knew who I was looking at but I wanted to be sure. "No, I can't see very clearly from here!" I whispered back to her.

"Alright, we'll try to get closer." she sighed and she cast her invisibility spell and we were able to find a spot to get closer and hear the conversation much more clearly.

We were looking at the leader of death knights but then we saw a spirit appear a few feet away!

"That's Alexandros Mograine!" Jaina gasped quietly. "So that must mean..."

"My son! My dear beautiful boy!" the spirit called out.

"F-father!" The leader cried out but then he suddenly knelt down as if he was in pain. "Argh...what...is..."

Then another spirit appeared and walked up to the spirit of Alexandros.

"That must be the shade of Darion Mograine when he was still alive." Jaina sighed.

"What's going on?" I asked her, confused about the situation.

"The Mograines have had a history of wielding the legendary blade, Ashbringer." Jaina began. "Have you heard of it?"

"Yeah, I've heard the tale." I nodded. "I did have knowledge of the Mograines back at Dalaran but I never thought it'd actually be true! One wielded the blade against the undead, another killed its own family member with said blade and the youngest sacrificed himself with the Ashbringer blade to free the soul of the family member who was killed with it. It's terrifying to know that a child could kill its own parent out of jealousy."

"Darion Mograine was the youngest and when he did sacrifice himself, he was turned into a Death Knight." Jaina continued. "From then on, he became all that his father had fought against. This must be a memory that's manifested itself-"

"To remind Darion of who he was." I finished her sentence.

"Father, you have returned!" the shade of Darion spoke. "You have been gone a long time, Father. I thought..."

"Nothing could have kept me away from here, Darion. Not from my home and family." the spirit of Alexandros chuckled.

"Father, I wish to join you in the war against the undead!" Darion's shade demanded. "I want to fight! I can sit idle no longer!"

Then Tirion had walked up next to the present Darion, watching the memory play out.

"Darion Mograine! You are barely of age to hold a sword, let alone battle the undead hordes of Lordaeron!" Alexandros lectured the past shade of Darion. "Even the thought-"

"If I die, Father, I would rather it be on my feet, standing in defiance against the undead legions!" the shade of Darion interrupted. "If I die, let me die with you!"

The shade then faded and the spirit of Alexandros was looking directly at the present Darion.

"My son," Alexandros began. "There will come a day where you will command the Ashbringer and with it, mete out justice across this land. I have no doubt that when that day finally comes, you will bring pride to our people and that Lordaeron will be a better place because of you. But my son, that day is not today. Do not forget!"

Out of nowhere, I saw the Lich King himself, Arthas appear a few feet behind the spirit of Alexandros! "Touching." he chuckled in a mocking dark tone, then he raised his blade Frostmourne at Alexandros. "He is mine now..."

Alexandros' spirit became entirely absorbed into a soul shard and the present Darion seemed to have gained control of himself again as he was able to stand up.

"You...you betrayed me. You betrayed all of us, monster!" he shouted in anger and he readied the corrupted Ashbringer for another fight. "Face the might of Mograine!"

He went to charge at the Lich King, blinded by rage only to be swatted away by a simple backhand from Arthas himself! "Pathetic..." he scoffed.

It seemed that Darion was knocked out and I was speechless and shocked, but not as bad as Jaina! I looked at her and she was trembling and I could tell that she wanted to cry, but she was desperately holding back her tears and trying so hard to not show how heartbroken she truly was. Arthas...once her prince and now, she sees him as the monster he really is.

"Damn you, Arthas." she sobbed quietly. "Why? Why did you have to become this way?"

"You're a damned monster, Arthas!" Tirion shouted at the Lich King, only for him to laugh with evil content.

"You were right, Fordring. I did send them in to die. Their lives are meaningless, but yours..." Arthas chuckled. "How simple it was to draw out the great Tirion Fordring out of hiding! You've left yourself exposed, paladin. Nothing will save you!"

Suddenly, Tirion began to gasp for air, almost collapsing, but he kept himself from doing so by leaning on one knee! The other paladins went to charge at the Lich King to stop him from hurting Tirion and just as I was about to stand up and go help him, Jaina pulled me back down, shaking her head at me.

"Wait, we can't just stay here!" I exclaimed at her. "We have to do something!"

"Not while he's here!" Jaina argued, nodding her head at the Lich King.

I growled in disagreement, however Jaina was right. Going in to save Tirion would be suicide! Besides, I can't just throw my life away like that, I'm pregnant!

"Apocalypse!" At the corner of my eye, I saw the paladins being knocked back by the Lich King's spell.

I yelped in helplessness, knowing that I couldn't do anything but watch them suffer. Then Darion stood up and threw the corrupted Ashbringer to Tirion Fordring and miraculously, he caught it and he started to light up, almost as bright as the sun!

"Arthas!" he yelled out in fury, the Ashbringer back to its holy form!

The Lich King looked confused and even stumbled back a little. "What is this?"

"Your end!" the powerful Highlord shouted and went to strike at Arthas, landing a hit!

Then the injured Lich King leaped far away from Tirion. "Impossible!" he coughed before he could stand up straight as he had recovered a little. "This...is not over! When next we meet, it won't be on holy ground, paladin!"

In the blink of an eye, the Lich King teleported elsewhere and Tirion ran over to Darion and healed him. When Darion was fully healed, he rose up to remain kneeling! This was my chance to find that death knight that looked familiar. I was about to stand up but yet again, Jaina pulled me down only for me to land a twig and it snapped loudly!

"Who goes there?!" Tirion shouted.

"Idiot!" Jaina insulted me with a whisper. "Great, thanks to you, we're in trouble now."

We now had no choice but to show ourselves to Tirion Fordring himself.

"Jaina!" Tirion exclaimed when he saw Jaina but he became even more shocked when he saw me. "And...Alyssana? By the Light, is that you?"

"Alyssana?" a nearby death knight repeated.

I looked at who repeated Tirion's word...and my heart suddenly stopped and not in a good way either! He stood up at 6 feet tall, long black hair in a high ponytail, his skin looked scarred as if he was burnt to death and his eyes were paler than the moon itself. He had a shocked look on his face when he was looking at me, but when he blinked, his facial expression turned to one of passion and he seemed very breathless, not like he couldn't breathe anyway. Then...it clicked!

_'I've seen this face before...especially in this way! No...is it?'_

"...L-Ludwig?"


	5. An Unpleasant Reunion (Ludwig's POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Realising that Alyssana is a completely different person from when they were married, Ludwig tries his best to understand what happened to Alyssana for her to be this way.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this woman in front of me. To even hear her name had triggered a flashback of memories I thought I had forgotten.

_"Alyssana."_

I remember it all now. I once fell for her because I thought she would be a powerful ally for The Cult of the Damned, but it turned out I was wrong. So many things I've done to secure my future were all for naught when she killed me. Now that I look back on it, I really did mess up with this woman and now I know why that man said that she's become scary. I could feel from her piercing dark brown eyes that she's even more powerful from when I was still alive. I hopelessly forgot about my actions as I was about to try and hold her in my arms, but I was blasted away by her arcane magic...and not in a good place as I was trying to hold in my howls of pain!

"If you're a death knight, then why does it still hurt when I arcane blasted your rotten balls?" She scoffed, leaning down at my level.

"Even as a death knight, this twig and these rotten berries still work!" I grunted painfully on my knees. "Unless you want to give it a try later on when I come to."

"How about no?!" She screamed as she slapped me across the face. "I've already killed you once and I'll do it again if I bloody have to!"

"Alyssana, stop! That's enough!" Tirion shouted at Alyssana, grabbing her hand that was pulsating with what seemed like Arcane energy. "He may have been horrible in the past but he will make up for his misdeeds."

"How would you know?! Do you know what he has done? What he did to me?! No, he'll never make up for his wrongdoings!" She growled at Tirion, then she returned her attention to me. "Now **you** tell me this; where is my son?! Where is Marenus, Ludwig? Where is our son?!"

All the death knights, including me and Darion were almost speechless when she mentioned that we had a son. Even I didn't remember it but now that she mentioned it, another horrible memory became a flashback! I remember now;   
I was talking to a woman who knew Alyssana during her studies and she too was a part of the Cult of the Damned. We got a little drunk that night when I told her that Alyssana was pregnant with my child and I don't know how but I found myself in a barn with her, getting undressed. When I realised what was happening, I was about to quickly get my clothes back on before Alyssana bursted into the barn and killed us both. I wasn't myself back then! I could swear that when I was being burnt alive, I heard someone laughing...

_"She would've found out what you are a part of in the end. But what she doesn't need to know is that you are one of my puppets!"_

That voice reverberated in my head for a time while I was under the Lich King's will and now, it's become silent.

Edua stood up and bravely walked over to Alyssana, even though I gestured her to stay away because I didn't want her to get hurt. "Come with me, I'll take you to your son." She spoke. "Ludwig, you're coming as well."

"What? Why me?!" I exclaimed.

"There is something you must know." She replied.

"What, the fact that I had a son and an ex-wife who killed me and obviously hates me?! Yeah I already know that!" I sassed at her but I earned a hard slap across the face from Alyssana for that last comment.

I heard Koltira, a blood elf death knight try to stifle a laugh and I death-stared him until he stopped, although his smile wouldn't go away.

"Just shut up and lead me to **my** son." Alyssana spat with the dirtiest look I've ever seen her make.

"Enough from the both of you!" Edua stressed as she opened a death gate to Archeus.

We all went through and once we got to the Archeus, we saw restless and ravenous undead running around the place!

"This is where **you** took my son? Can you even be more heartless than you already are?!" Alyssana scolded me.

"Ugh, can you not with your insults, woman?" I groaned out loud. "I didn't kidnap our son, Thassarian did! And I already know that I've done ya dirty in the past, but that doesn't mean you have to be a colossal bitch about it!"

"Cheating arrogant dick!" She roared at me, her hands glowing with Arcane magic. "Shall I fucking kill you again?!"

"Alright, that's it! Gods, you two are like children now that you've reunited!" Edua exclaimed in frustration. "Alyssana, step onto that small platform and it'll take you to your son. Ludwig and I will hold off the undead here!"

"Fine!" The mage scoffed and she went off to said platform while I went to charge at the undead.

Then I remembered that Edua wanted to talk to me. "Why didn't you tell me who I was?" I questioned Edua. "Why didn't anyone tell me about my true identity?"

"We were all strictly told by the Lich King himself to never tell you who you are. He feared that it would be too much for you, but that was all when we were listening to his whispers." The undead Draenei explained. "Besides, if we told you about your life with Alyssana, you would've gone running back to her."

After striking down another zombie, I heard a scream from down below! I quickly rushed to the small platform and it teleported me to the next level of the Archeus. A huge undead abomination held a boy in its grasp and Alyssana was casting spell after spell, trying to make it drop the boy!

"Mother!! Help!!!" The boy screamed at Alyssana and I felt something painful hit me in the stomach but there was no weapon.

_'Wait, if she is his mother, then that means...that boy is my son!'_

Ignoring the pain in the pit of my stomach, I started to rush towards the abomination, my sword ready to fight it!

"Hands off my son, you wretched amalgamation!!!" I shouted a war cry and then I leaped in the air to sever the abomination's hand from its arm!

As the severed hand was falling, the fingers began to loosen its grip of my son and he had a glowing purple hue around him and he was flown towards Alyssana.

"Mother!" he cried as he was being hugged by Alyssana.

Then she looked at me and this time, she didn't shoot a mean look. Instead she nodded and started walking towards me!

"Uh mommy? Why are we going towards the man who was mean to me earlier?" My son grumbled at Alyssana.

"We've come to thank your father for saving you, Marenus." She replied.

"Wait...he is my father?" He questioned the mage. "I thought he was dead."

"No, my son." I chuckled. "The Lich King brought me back...but due to some recent events, I'm no longer taking orders from him."

For the first time, I thought I saw a little smile forming on Alyssana's face. It didn't take a lot to hide a positive reaction but I was glad that she did seem a little happy.

"It seems I have a lot to make up for!" I spoke up, clearing my throat.

"And so do I." Alyssana simply said to our son who replied with a sad smile.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked her in confusion.

"I'll tell you later in private, Ludwig." She sighed and I sensed there was an underlying sad tone in her voice. "For now, let's just get back to the others."

Alyssana started casting a teleportation spell and gestured me to join alongside her. I noticed her hourglass figure was still the same but her belly looked a little bit bulged. Either it was from when she was pregnant with Marenus or...

_'No that can't happen. She couldn't have moved on to someone else already!'_

My thoughts were interrupted when we arrived back to Light's Hope Chapel and Darion, the death knights, Tirion and Jaina all turned their attention towards us! I silently gulped, knowing that they're all looking at me, Alyssana and our son and I realised that we looked as if we were a family. However, I had to remember that Alyssana is my ex-wife and she's the one who killed me! But alas, I hold no grudge against her, she had every reason to react the way she did. Yet I can't escape the knowledge that I wasn't myself that night, before she killed. I don't how to describe it but I think I'm slowly getting the pieces together.

_"...one of my puppets..."_

I think that meant that what I said to her that night, it wasn't me! Again, nobody and not even **she** would understand. I walked over to Darion who was conversing with the death knights and he greeted me with a nod.

"So...that's your old lady?" he began with a question, looking back at Alyssana who was laughing as she was talking to Tirion and the other paladins.

"Yeah, more like my ex-wife!" I sarcastically replied, sighing through my nose.

"And that's your son there, too?" he asked again, cocking his head to the side.

"I thought you already knew that!" I scoffed, looking at him sternly as I assumed that if he knew who I was then he could've known about my son.

"I knew who you were, but I didn't know you had a son." He corrected, pointing his finger at me.

I growled at him, peeved off that everybody kept my true identity a secret from me. I didn't have time to worry about that as Tirion had called me over.

"Ludwig. Of all people that the Lich King could've brought back to life, he chose you." he scoffed, looking at me as if he was judging me. "After you left, we all agreed to take the battle to the Lich King in Northrend but we're going to need help from both the Alliance and the Horde in full force. The Argent Crusade and The Knights of the Ebon Blade will be joining the fight."

He then brought out a scroll with a symbol on a wax seal, which I assumed would be the symbol of The Argent Crusade and he handed it to me. "Deliver this letter to King Varian Wrynn in Stormwind. Jaina, your ex-wife and your son will accompany you." he directed me.

I nodded in agreement and Jaina had called down two gryphons to take me, Alyssana, Marenus and Jaina to Stormwind.

"We'll be going to Lakeshire first before we go to Stormwind. There's something that me and Jaina left there." Alyssana explained and I simply nodded, only because I was afraid of what I might say.

Marenus jumped on the gryphon with Jaina which meant I was stuck with my ex-wife of all people. We took off to the skies and we started making our way to Lakeshire. While we were in the air, I looked over to Marenus who was having the time of his life, laughing with joy. Then I turned my attention to Alyssana who seemed to be calm, but how could **I** tell? I'm sitting right behind her and she's more focused on flying the gryphon more than anything. I was about hold her from behind and she quickly looked behind at me with an upset look.

"Don't touch me like that ever again, Ludwig." she scolded me.

I quickly retracted my hands away from her waist. "Does a hug really hurt? Even though I'm your ex-husband?" I exclaimed, taken aback from her reaction.

"Don't make me land this bird, Luddy!" she boomed aggressively. "Like I said before, I've killed you once and I'll do it again if you annoy me or touch me without my consent!"

I stayed silent and leaned back a little and kept my attention towards our destination. Even Jaina gave me a disapproving shake of her head and Marenus couldn't even look at me.

_'I always hated that nickname, Luddy. But whenever she said it, I didn't feel offended. But that was when she was **mine** , unlike now, it does offend me.'_

"I'll even make it more painful than ever before." Alyssana added. "Someone gave me a lot of tips and taught me tons of tricks on how to torture and kill an opponent. I'm not afraid to use you as a guinea pig for demonstration!"

"Mommy, that's not very nice!" Marenus commented.

"It's okay, Marenus! Mommy just has a lot of issues." I blurted out to my son and Jaina started giggling. "What are you laughing at?"

"You're in big trouble as soon as we get to Stormwind, I can assure you that!" Jaina cackled. "Remind me to bring popcorn, too!"

"Alyssana, she's joking right?" I asked my ex-wife, but her silence made me gulp in nervousness. "Uhh...Alyssana?"

"Just. Don't. Piss. Me. Off." she pronounced in a monotone voice and once more, I stayed silent throughout the rest of the ride.

Yet again, I sensed that there was a certain sadness in her voice. I don't know if it's because she realised the Lich King brought me back to life or something happened that I know nothing about.

I cleared my throat to try and break the tension between me and Alyssana. "How long was I dead?" I asked her

"5 years!" Alyssana answered me with a simple tone. "We're here! When we get to Stormwind, keep your distance from me."

Once we landed in Lakeshire, as soon as I got off the gryphon, I offered my hand to Alyssana to get her down from the gryphon. She sighed, not taking my hand and got off the bird herself and walked with Jaina and Marenus to the stables. I would've asked why I should keep my distance from her, but I have to respect her wishes. I know she's my ex-wife, but I understand when someone has their boundaries, especially a woman like Alyssana.

_'So it's been 5 years since I've been dead? I wonder what happened during that time...'_

"Luddy!" I heard Alyssana say to me, making me snap out of my thoughts and my undead heart jump even though it's stopped beating. "Get on, we're going to Stormwind now."

I nodded and I waited for Alyssana to get on her horse and I mounted myself behind her and we rode off to Stormwind quickly. It wasn't long until we made it to the gates and suddenly Alyssana had casted a shield around me and her. It didn't take me long to realise why when I had rotten food thrown at me!

_"My family's dead because of you!"_

_"Rotten Scourge scum!"_

"If I have to deal with this every time I come to Stormwind, I'm moving house!" I thought aloud.

"Shut your trap and just keep your head down!" Alyssana scolded me again as we were nearing Stormwind Keep.

Once we got to the entrance, Stormwind guards were already blocking the way inside!

"We need to get through, it's urgent!" Alyssana commanded.

"You are in no place to give us orders, witch! Not even with that wretched Death Knight here!" shouted a guard.

I was about to bring out my blade, but Jaina stopped me from doing so. "You're going to want to watch this." she spoke quietly.

"Dad, what does she mean by that?" Marenus asked me in fear.

"I don't know, my boy. But just keep close to me." I replied in a calming tone.

I watched Alyssana as she raised her hands up in the air and suddenly two war glaives appeared in her hands and she put on a fierce and intimidating pose, frightening the guards and me!

_'Where in the frozen throne did she get those? And when in Hellsheim did she get them?'_

The guards split apart to let us through and the glaives Alyssana sported vanished into thin air! Even though I was afraid, Marenus seemed to like the fact that his mother is fearless and powerful.

"That was so cool!!!" Marenus marvelled, making Alyssana look back and smile at him. "Hey dad, did you see that? Mommy's got cool weapons!"

I chuckled in response as Marenus ran to Alyssana all excited and giddy about his mother's fearsome weapons. The thing is, I had an awful feeling when I saw those weapons! They were glowing blue, purple, red and then a fierce green which reminded me a lot of when Alyssana killed me with Fel Fire and it wasn't a pleasant feeling at all. Once we got to the throne in front of King Varian, we all knelt down in front of him in respect.

"Why is he here, Alyssana?" He growled at her, standing in front of her. "Why is the man who betrayed you a death knight of all people? Did the Lich King run out of good warriors to bring back to life?"

_'Alright I've had enough. I have to address this, now!'_

"With all due respect, High King..." I began, standing up with my hands in the air, showing that I meant no harm. "...not all death knights have a choice when the Lich King brings us back from the grave. How I'm here today standing in front of you is because we've been freed from the Lich King's will. Tirion Fordring had sent me here to lend you this." I grabbed the letter that Tirion had given me earlier and gave it to Varian who snatched it from my hand.

After reading it through, Varian handed it back to me and sat back down on his throne. "Very well, Death Knight. I assume you already know your way around here, you've only been dead for 5 years." he voiced. "Besides, you have a lot to make up for!"

"I understand, my king." I noted, then from the corner of my eye, I saw Alyssana magically shimmer away. "By the way, what happened to her?"

"Who?" Varian questioned me with an arched eyebrow.

"Alyssana." I began in frustration. "Before she killed me, I remembered when she was full of joy and how bubbly she was! Now, she gives me the cold shoulder and..."

"She's scary?" Varian finished my sentence with a sarcastic smile. "Yeah, there's a lot of things you should know about her. But I reckon you should ask her yourself."

"How?" I scoffed. "How can I ask her what's wrong without her aiming a fireball on my 'now dead but for some reason it still works crotch'? She already aimed arcane magic on it to humiliate me in front of my fellow knights, what could I do to make sure it doesn't happen again?"

"Just ask her anyway! Either way, you may get an answer that you probably don't want to hear. And maybe your genitals could get set on fire, not that you'll have use for them anyway. You're undead, they shouldn't work! But in all seriousness, prepare yourself anyway for when she tells you everything." Varian advised.

I wasn't sure what I should prepare for, but I had a feeling that I'm not going to like what I might hear. I started making my way out of Stormwind Keep and I went into my back pocket only to feel that there was some scrap of paper shoved into it!

 _'How did this get here?'_ I thought.

_"Meet me where we came together."_

Assuming it was Alyssana who wrote this note, I made my way to the place where me and her had mated for the first time. I saw her sitting in front of the fountain where we made love and I could tell she had been crying because her eyes looked red, her cheeks and nose flushed a rosy pink and her lips were formed into a slight pout. I hope Varian is right about asking her directly...


	6. The Nerve (Alyssana's POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Although Alyssana tries to help Ludwig understand her situation and what happened to her in Outland, she doubts that Ludwig would accept that she's moved on.

I waited for him to arrive here at the garden where we slept together for our first time. It was also the only time I ever had sex outdoors, too! But thankfully I'm not doing that again. Before I came here, I had let Jaina know that I will have to tell Ludwig about Illidan and about why I left Marenus behind for 5 years after his father's death. It'll probably be a shitty excuse, leaving behind Marenus, but Ludwig deserves to know that he hurt me so bad that I couldn't look after our child without feeling guilty! I heard footsteps come near me and I looked up to see Ludwig. His once undead expression was more lively and he had a concerned look on his face.

"Ludwig..." I shivered.

"During our flight here, I've wondered what I missed for the last 5 years." he sighed. "When I realised Marenus was our son, I actually wished that you didn't kill me! But I know you had every reason to. Then when I saw you, I could tell you've changed. You're not as timid and bubbly as you were when we met. You've become more...serious and you want to get straight to the point of things. Even though you threatened to kill me so many times already in one day, I don't have a grudge against you at all."

I did feel a bit better that he didn't hold anything against me, but I had to keep my guard up. I don't know when he'll suddenly turn on me so I need to be cautious. "I suppose Varian told you about what happened to me?" I asked him.

"No, he told me that I should ask you about it actually." he mentioned, taking a seat across from me.

"Very well, ask away." I replied.

"When you said to Marenus that you 'have a lot to make up for as well', what did you mean by that?" he asked the first question.

"After I gave birth to Marenus, I was able to stay with him for a while, but I couldn't bear the thought of telling him that I killed his father." I clarified. "So after a week or so of taking care of him, thanks to Norwell, I was able to find him a home."

"Norwell?" he gasped when I mentioned his best friend's name. "Is he still around?"

 _'Oh great. I thought he was going to ask this later!'_ I thought to myself.

 _"Lie to him! He doesn't have to know! Lie!"_ I heard Illidan's voice in my head.

"He's...deceased." I lied. "He died in Outland trying to find me."

"I see." Ludwig concurred with an expression of disappointment. "Well, why were you in Outland to begin with?"

I felt my heart skip a beat when he mentioned Outland. I suddenly became afraid of telling him but deep down, I shouldn't really care about what he thinks, it's my life!

"I went to Outland to defeat the Betrayer." I began, trying to work around another lie, but then I was interrupted by Ludwig again.

"I've heard rumours that you went there to be with some guy named Illidan." he claimed.

With a strong nose sigh, I growled. "At first, I went there to bring him down! But things changed when I failed."

"You failed to defeat him?" Ludwig gasped again. "How are you still alive?"

_'Alright, here we go, time for the show everyone! Grab your friggin popcorn! At least I know Jaina is somewhere listening in to this. In all seriousness, there's no use in lying to him now about it.'_

"He took me under his wing, literally and figuratively, to help me become better at Arcane magic and to be his ally." I started to explain, watching Ludwig's face slowly turn from cocky to an expression of gobsmacked. "Not long after, we found that we had an attraction towards each other."

I could see that Ludwig was in utter shock, but as much as I wanted to feel sorry for him that he's only finding out about me and Illidan now, I think he's forgetting that I'm his ex-wife. He has no say in who I get together with! So I continued with the torture. "It got to the point where we couldn't hide it from those who followed him. Thankfully, everybody accepted me and they showed support."

"I see." he huffed, looking away from me, clearly showing his distaste. "Where is he now then? I'd like to meet this guy."

"He's dead. He died trying to save me..." I sniffled. "...and our baby."

Ludwig's head suddenly turned to me, showing an expression of shock. "Baby? What baby? When did that happen?"

I felt my tear ducts start to sting, trying to open up and make my eyes well up in tears, but I didn't want to show weakness. "We got a little carried away with our love-making and so I became pregnant, which I still am, at least in the first trimester." I explained to him and I showed him my tummy, even though I'm not showing yet.

Ludwig had a slight smile but it quickly changed to a frown.

I continued my story. "At first, he was fine with it, but as soon as I mentioned someone that he liked a long time ago, he got really mad and left me alone for a while. Apparently he went to ask a Naga witch for a spell to be enchanted on him for just incase he dies. I'll tell you more about it later! So he came back, we had a bit of a fight and it was quickly resolved with this." I showed Ludwig the ring Illidan had given me and still, Ludwig had a sour look on his face.

Still however, he urged me to continue. "The enchantment Illidan had put on himself was to bind a piece of his soul with mine. Now I'm not sure if I've ever told you this, but as an infant I was fed Fel energy because I was born in a cult that revolves around the use of the Fel. And I was saved by a mage from Dalaran who took me there to raise me and if I showed any sign of the Fel, I was to be taught how to suppress it. Eventually, I mastered the suppression and I was then taught how to use Arcane, Frost and Fire magic. Getting back to Illidan, with his death and the binding of a piece of his soul with mine, my Fel powers awakened, but now they're harder to control when I'm emotional. Thankfully, it doesn't harm the baby, but now I need to learn how to suppress the Fel all over again."

Ludwig looked like as if he heard an outrageous story, but then he asked me this. "But why did Illidan bind a piece of his soul with yours?"

I took a deep breath and I started to explain why. "So that he can still be with me in a way. I'm able to see a shade of him in my waking and dreaming life."

Then Ludwig sighed heavily, interrupting me yet again which started to annoy me. "The way I see it is that he's preventing you from grieving."

I was shocked at his comment! "N-no he's not."

"Yes he is!" He argued. "He's preventing you from truly moving on. If you could move on from me so easily in 5 years, you can do the same!"

"That was because **I KILLED YOU!** " I roared, my voice becoming demonic and there was a green hue clouding my vision.

"Alyssana, bear with me please!" Ludwig fretted, putting his hands up in fear. "I've only been under the Lich King's influence for so long that I know every torture method that you can think of! What Illidan is doing is emotional torture and he's controlling you with his spirit! He's prolonging his existence in your life longer than it should've when he died and he's doing this through your mental state! If he really loved you, wouldn't he let you grieve for his death?!"

The tear ducts finally opened in my eyes and the tears flowed as I gritted my teeth whilst whimpering in anger and I felt my heart slowly become torn into pieces.

"Lyssa..." he shuddered with an expression of worry.

That nickname...he only ever called me that whenever I cried or whenever I was upset. I let my guard down for a moment and I started to spew out every tear I could possibly shed!

"He's hurting you by making himself live through you and that's not fair on you or the baby." Ludwig consoled me as he took a few steps further towards me and grabbed my shoulders to rub them gently and he looked deep into my eyes. "I know you more than he does, Lyssa! I know that you don't like having your emotions toyed around with. You don't like it when someone lies to you about something until it's too late to tell the truth because you would've already figured it out by then. You also hate it when someone you trusted hurts you in a way that you thought would be impossible for them to do."

We were both shedding tears at this point...only up until he said that last thing. The Fel raged within my body along with my anger and I pushed him away with Fel energy! I felt my body start to tremble as I cried even more and Ludwig stood up ready to defend himself again.

"Who are you to tell me that?! I trusted you to never hurt me and you did!" I wailed in anger, my voice sounding normal. "Illidan never hurt me! He never hurt me once! He loved me for who I am, he loved me for everything that I am and most importantly; **He treated me and loved me so much better than you ever could!** "

I began to use my Fel magic to choke Ludwig and suspend him in the air, putting all my anger and hatred into making him suffer.

"Alyssana!" Ludwig strained to speak as I was choking him. "Please, think about what I said! He doesn't know you like I do! I did love you back then! I still do!"

With that last remark, I was about to set his undead body on fire with the Fel magic I used when I killed him five years ago, until I heard a familiar voice cry out.

"Mother, stop! Stop hurting Daddy! Stop it!"

I let Ludwig go free of my Fel chokehold and I sat back down on a nearby bench, thinking about what I just did. Marenus had raced over to his father and helped him get back on his feet, while Jaina and Tirion only arrived to witness the scene that happened.

"Marenus, what happened?" Jaina asked my son.

"Mommy was hurting Daddy because he said that Illidan was torturing Mommy because he bound a piece of his soul to hers! I heard everything!" Marenus shouted to Jaina with tears in his eyes. "Mommy, why is he hurting you?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My worst fears have come to fruition, my own son going against my views on what me and Illidan had. I felt...betrayed.

"You would never understand, child." I fumed, my voice becoming demonic again. "None of you would!"

With that, I quickly teleported away from the capital city of Stormwind and into the dark reaches of Elwynn Forest. The Fel within me subsided and I instantly felt the sadness well up within me again. I hate to admit it...but it's true.

_"If he really loved you, wouldn't he let you grieve for his death?!"_

Those very words said by Ludwig, rang through my mind and I started to have flashbacks to when Illidan died in front of me. When he said;

_"My soul will forever be bound to yours."_

At first, I didn't think he literally meant that, but when he told me that he just wanted to be with me after he died, I started thinking...

_'Would Illidan really do that to me? To torture me? To control me?'_

My thoughts became too overwhelming and I casted a soundproof shield around me and I let out an ear piercing scream that I was glad that the shield didn't break. I went on for a while until my vocal chords started to hurt and I collapsed on the ground, still crying but silently!

"Illidan...please...tell me that you wouldn't hurt me like this..."

I felt my consciousness drift away and I passed out due to exhaustion.

**...**

_"Alyssana..."_

**...**

_"Dalah'surfal...did you really think I would preserve my soul in yours to hurt you and control you?"_


	7. Reassurance and Recognition (Alyssana's POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alyssana begins to have doubts that Illidan really loves her, but he tells her otherwise and aids her in helping the others understand his reasoning for binding a piece of his soul to hers. However, he also tells Alyssana that his time with her may be limited...

I woke up in that broken land again and I sat up, wiping my tears from my face and as I moved them away, I was face-to-face with Illidan who had a stern expression on his face.

"Baby girl, you know that if I were ever to hurt you, I wouldn't forgive myself, not even for the world." he spoke as he cupped my face with his hands, careful to not prick my skin with his claws.

His very touch soothed me instantly and I dove in for a kiss, hoping to make this insecurity that Ludwig planted in my head go away. I entangled Illidan's hair from his ponytail in my fingers and as I slightly pulled on it, he made a loud monstrous growl and mounted himself on top of me. Then he pulled away and I could swear, his expression melted my fragile heart. He looked worried but he had a smile that I knew he only smiled that way when he was alive, when we were alone together. When our love has created a special moment for only both of us to share; that of pure love, affection and passion! He nuzzled his nose with mine and sighed softly as he kissed me again, only softly and I could hear him purring which made me melt inside even more. Then I started to cry again, but with a smile on my face.

"I love you so much! I love you, I love you, I love you!!!" I wept while laughing lightly at the same time.

"I love you more, my silly baby girl!" Illidan purred as he wiped my tears away from my eyes, again being careful of his claws. "Reason why I say silly is because of that bloody Fuckwig!"

I bursted out laughing as I heard Illidan's nickname for Ludwig and it stopped me from crying.

_'I think I'll use that next time!'_

He laid down next to me, leaning on his left side and I started tracing his tattoos from his neck, to his abs and then to the lining of his pants. He bit his lip as he watched me and he stopped my hand only to hold it in his big hand. I looked at him in pure ecstasy and he smiled at me with a purr, then he quickly pulled me closer to him and he drew his face closer to mine.

"Are you feeling a little bit better now that I'm here?" He asked me and I nodded in response, trying my best not to cry again. "Good girl, I don't like it when somebody upsets my baby girl. Especially that fucking death knight! How dare he talk to you like that?"

"He was right about one thing." I responded, Illidan's 'eyes' went wide as I spoke and then I continued with a straight face. "He does know me a bit more than you, but he's my ex-husband. He has no say in what I do with my life or who I'm with. I make my own decisions and if that rotten testicle thinks he knows better, when I wake up, I'm freeze-drying his undead nuts."

Illidan tried to stifle a laugh, but it came bursting out loudly and honestly, I don't think I've heard Illidan laugh this hard when he was alive. Once he calmed down, he attacked my neck with kisses whilst he growled like the demon he is.

"I love it when my baby girl gets violent and mouthy!" He chuckled in a dark tone. "Speaking of mouthy..."

"Illidan, I thought we were going to wait until I get back to Darnassus." I giggled as Illidan nuzzled himself into the crook of my neck.

"But I want my Alyssana!" He groaned, whining about his craving for me.

As much as I wanted to get some sort of stress relief, I had to let him know about the Lich King. "Illidan, no! I need to talk to you about something." I said to him sternly and he removed himself from my neck and leaned on his left side again.

"What is it, dalah'surfal?" He asked me.

I sat up so I could face him directly instead of looking up. "So as you said before, the Lich King is awake. But most of his death knights, including Fuckwig himself, have all somehow been freed from his will. Tirion Fordring is planning to push the assault on the Lich King to Northrend and I'm going."

Illidan blinked slowly with a deep sigh. "I would protest but knowing you, you're stubborn like a Fel Hound who won't back down. But what I will say is that you need to be careful when you're in Northrend. There's a lot of horrible things and creatures over there that could kill you in an instant if you let your guard down, even for a few seconds! Do you know anyone who may accompany you?"

"No I don't." I replied, looking down. "But I'm pretty sure Varian might set me up with that rotten ballsack of a death knight to travel with me."

"Even if he does, just try not to murder him again!" Illidan laughed then he made a serious face. "Although, I did get pretty mad when he said that he still loved you."

"How would you even know? You weren't there!" I scoffed.

"Like he said, I live through you so I heard every damn thing he said!" He exclaimed. "And there's something else I forgot to mention to you."

_'Are you fucking serious?'_

"Seriously? You got another thing that you hid from me?!" I snapped at him, standing up and looking down at him as he laid there with his arms behind his head and one hoof on his knee.

"I simply forgot about it until now!" Illidan fired back. "I know I said that my soul will be bound to you forever but only up until you give birth. You will still have a portion of my power, but I won't be able to get in contact with you again."

My heart sank when he said that last thing. He noticed my sudden change of expression and he stood up in front of me and held my shoulders.

"Baby, I know you probably hate me for not mentioning it until now, but think about this!" Illidan consoled me as he cupped my face lightly. "I'll be able to witness the birth of my child, just not in physical form. And my heart will always belong to you even when my spirit fades into the Twisting Nether. I may not be around after you give birth but that doesn't mean I won't be watching out for you and our child."

I wanted to cry again, I really did but nothing could come out. But it's true, just because a spirit fades away into the Nether, doesn't mean they're really gone, right? They're just watching over you! Although, my heart started to hurt when he told me about him not being able to keep in contact with me after I give birth. The one thing that does make me happy though is that he'll be able to see the birth of our baby.

"There's another thing I have to ask you about." Illidan muttered. "Am I really torturing you doing this? Binding my soul to you to keep in contact with you I mean."

I shook my head and I cupped his toned face. "No, dalah'surfal!" I reassured him. "I don't care what Ludwig says, he has no right over my decisions and neither does he have the right to tell me how I should feel. It's my decision at the end of the day and I'm allowed to feel what I want to feel. Did you ask me because you heard what Ludwig said?"

He nodded with a really sad look on his face, probably the saddest I've ever seen him which broke my heart. I caressed his left cheekbone and lightly pulled on his bottom lip with my thumb, just admiring his facial structure. He then wrapped one arm around my waist and pulled me closer, making me look up at him directly as he traced my jawline with his finger and 'booped' my nose as he smiled.

"It's just I feel guilty knowing that I'm putting you through this." he murmured. "Because of what Ludwig said, I actually thought I was hurting you."

"Stop it!" I growled with a stern expression. "The way I see it is that you just want to be here for when the baby comes."

"And to be with you and make sure you don't go through this alone!" He added, caressing my cheek with his thumb. "I know you'll have Tyrande and everyone else there, but I still want to be here for you because I fucking love you dammit. You mean **everything** to me!"

I gestured him to pick me up so I could hug him properly and once I was picked up, I went in for another kiss, making him giggle and then moan as I held the back of his head, massaging it gently.

"Speaking of everyone else..." he breathed as he pulled away from the kiss. "...did you happen to come across Malfurion?"

I shook my head and sighed heavily. "No, Tyrande told me that he's dwelling in the Emerald Dream again."

Illidan sighed through his nose in annoyance. "The amount of times he leaves her behind! But I shouldn't worry about that right now, I'm too busy making sure you're healthy and that the baby is okay."

All I wanted to do was be in an endless kiss with him but I felt my body becoming slightly lighter. I'm close to waking up!

Illidan noticed this too and cupped my face to make me look at him again. "If that rotten bastard of a death knight attempts to drive you away from me again, I'm sorry but I'll have to take over your body for a little bit because I can't stand him!"

"I know!" I shivered due to the roughness in Illidan's tone of voice. "But let me handle this! I don't want to end up killing him again, like you said."

"If he really wants to know that I will never hurt you and I love you with all of my heart and soul-" he growled, exposing his sharp teeth.

"Darling!" I interrupted and I gasped in shock as I felt everything start to fade. "He will know your wrath...and mine. Kenethil'surfas!"

~•~

I was able to shout him an 'I love you' in Darnassian before I woke up in that shield that I casted to scream at the top of my lungs. When my eyesight was able to come into focus, I saw everyone! Ludwig, Marenus, Jaina, Varian, the draenei I saw at the Temple in Darnassus, a night elf sentinel and Tirion! Half of them had a look of worry on their faces while the other half had a look of suspicion and they seemed to be shouting something, but I couldn't hear due to the shield being soundproof. I dispelled the shield as I stood up and everyone was about to rush to me before they saw my expression of slight anger.

"Ludwig, we need to have a talk in private." I demanded as I looked at Ludwig.

"No, we don't!" he objected, pointing at everyone. "They all know what's wrong with you!"

"Mommy, they just want to help!" Marenus cried out. "Please, let them help you! I don't want to lose you again!"

Marenus' words rung true in my heart and it stung too. But I couldn't just back down if they don't know the truth!

"My son, you don't understand. None of you do!" I restated. "You don't truly know why he's doing this!"

"Alyssana, why can't you just come to terms that he's hurting you?!" Ludwig argued.

"Why can't **you** just shut up already?!" I screamed as I felt a spark of the Fel ignite within me, but I had to control myself. "In fact, why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Alyssana, he's dead! Please you have to move on!" Jaina barked at me, looking as if to cast her spells on me if I were to attack. "Don't be like me who's still hung up on Arthas!"

Everyone kept shouting at me to stand down, including my own son until it became too overwhelming to bear and I whispered to myself as tears began to fall from my eyes.

_"Arcane forces, hear me now._   
_I call on the spirit of my dalah'surfal who has passed._   
_Let his presence be known to those who stand against me._   
_Let them see him and hear what he has to say!"_

A space in front of me on the ground began to glow a violet purple and the insignia of the Illidari formed and the spirit of Illidan manifested in front of me! I could tell from the corner of my eye that everybody was shocked, yet I was too focused on the relieving sight of my demon hunter.

"Hello, my love." he greeted me with an alluring swoon in his tone of voice which made me melt inside.

"Dalah'surfal!" I cooed before he picked me up and swung me around then he pulled me close for an embrace.

_'Wow, I didn't think my spell would be_ **_that_ ** _potent for his spirit to_ **_almost_ ** _have physical mass!'_

"You really did learn a lot with Illidan, didn't you, Alyssana?" Varian marvelled as he saw Illidan in his full form.

"That is correct, human king." Illidan chuckled. "I pride on the fact that I've taught Alyssana how to cast her spells more efficiently and effectively. But...getting to the subject at hand!"

Illidan's eyes flared a more potent Fel green as he looked at Ludwig. The death knight stumbled back a little, however his obvious facial expression said it all. He hated that Illidan was holding me close to him and his pale white eyes glowed ever more eerily bright. I felt Illidan slide his left hand down my arm to hold my right hand tightly, but not to the point where it could hurt.

"It's true what Alyssana had told you before. You would never truly understand why I did what I did!" He discussed. "But, since I've been summoned by my beautiful, talented and beloved magical mate, it seems you all need a more **direct** explanation from me."

"You think I don't know your tricks, demon?" Ludwig provoked Illidan as he drew out his runeforged sword. "Like the rest of them, all you do is corrupt the innocent and the vulnerable!"

"So says the death knight that raises the dead!" Illidan sassed at the death knight and as he let go of my hand, the both of them began getting dangerously closer to one another. "And who are you to say I'm the one who corrupts the innocent and vulnerable? You tried planting into Alyssana's head that I'm hurting her, which clearly, that isn't the case!"

"She needs to grieve for you yet, Illidan! And she needs to move on!" Ludwig retorted, pointing at Illidan.

The last remark set Illidan off! He knocked Ludwig's weapon out of his hands with ease and held him in the air by the throat, making sure to block his necromantic magic! Marenus was about to race towards them both and I was going to stop him but then...

"Marenus!" Illidan boomed as he turned his gaze away from Ludwig and set his sight on my son.

Jaina and the others prepared themselves in the case that Illidan could harm my son, but then he spoke in a calming tone, like a father to his own child. "If I had any intention on hurting your mother, she wouldn't be here right now." Illidan addressed. "But she's here because I love her! Because of me, you're going to be a big brother in the far future so I'll be counting on you to help your mother look after your little sister or brother because I'm only going to be sticking around for when your mother gives birth."

"And after?" the night elf sentinel called out.

"Unfortunately, my contact with her will cease." Illidan lamented, using his magic to suspend Ludwig in the air.

"Oh come on, not again!" the death knight cursed at Illidan.

I giggled at Ludwig's struggle and Illidan bent down to Marenus' height and I suddenly became nervous, so I crept closer, trying to oversee and eavesdrop on their conversation.

"M-Mr Illidan?" Marenus squeaked which made my heart melt when he called him 'Mister'. "I don't think I'd be strong enough to take care of Mommy."

"Why do you think that, young one?" Illidan inquired my son.

"Well, you're a big and strong demon-thing with more muscles than me!" Marenus answered, making Illidan chuckle on how he pointed out Illidan's toned and muscled body. "And I don't have cool weapons like Mommy has to protect her or my little sis or bro!"

"I had those weapons made especially for your mother, you know!" Illidan chatted to my son. "In fact, I know you're training to become a Paladin so...here!"

Illidan conjured a singular mini version of the war glaives I owned and handed it to Marenus!

"Uhhh, Illidan? What are you doing?" I quavered nervously.

"Relax, they're not infused with any source of magic yet so it can't hurt him or anyone...yet!" Illidan insisted as he chuckled.

"Illidan, that war glaive can be infused with any kind of magic?" Tirion marvelled as he stepped closer to inspect the weapon to which Illidan nodded in response. "So it can be infused with the Light!"

Seeing Illidan and Marenus bond over talking about protecting me, warmed my heart and soul. Ludwig seemed to not be enjoying being suspended in the air so I just froze him so we wouldn't have to hear him struggle and complain. I will admit though, seeing Illidan being a fatherly figure to Marenus made me break a little inside because if he's like this with children, imagine how he'd be with a baby! If I think about it any further, I'll just become more depressed knowing that Illidan won't be around for when the baby starts to grow up.

"So when I'm older and when I truly become a Paladin, I'll be able to wield this properly?" Marenus asked Illidan.

"Yes, of course! Once you hit a certain age, the blade's size will increase and become heavier, but you'll be able to wield it in battle against your enemies and strike them down!" Illidan concurred with a warm smile and a thumbs up.

Marenus got Tirion to hold the war glaive and he went to quickly give Illidan a hug which yet again, made my heart melt! "Thank you, Mr Illidan! I'm glad that Mommy and you found each other and that you make her happy." he thanked Illidan and he pulled away to run towards me. "So I'm really gonna be a big brother?"

I chuckled with a smile and a nod and Marenus hugged me tightly. "So in conclusion, Illidan..." the draenei spoke up. "...you never had any intentions of hurting Alyssana with the prolonged existence of your spirit?"

"No, I'm only going to be around for when the baby is born." Illidan replied. "I know she's still in the first trimester but I'll do whatever it takes to see to it's birth."

The draenei nodded once with a smile and started making his way back to Stormwind, along with the night elf sentinel. I was about to talk to Illidan but Jaina cleared her throat loudly to catch my attention! She pointed at Ludwig who was still frozen and I tried to stifle a laugh as I cast a fireball to melt the ice which also dispelled Illidan's choking spell. After that, I gestured Illidan to come over to me and Marenus and we were able to share a group hug amongst us. I heard Ludwig coughing and wheezing but then it turned into growling as he saw me, Illidan and Marenus and I could see from the corner of my eye that he opened a death gate to go through it. Jaina, Tirion and Varian had approached us after the group hug and Marenus got his tiny harmless weapon back.

"How is that you're physically here but you're dead?" Jaina asked Illidan.

"Ask her." He scoffed as he looked at me.

"What? I only made up that spell in that moment when everybody was bloody shouting at me!" I exclaimed.  
"Look, what's really important is that now you all know the truth."

"I'll make sure to have a chat with some warlocks who may know something about your condition and see if we can do anything about it." Varian discussed.

"I'll need to see if I can find Belatea and maybe ask her how exactly did she help you control the Fel." Jaina chatted. "Who knows if she's still alive or still in Dalaran."

"I hope you do find her." I sighed sadly. "She was the one responsible for raising me. If you do end up finding her, Jaina, please give her my regards."

Jaina smiled with a chuckle. "I sure will. I bet she'll be happy knowing you've grown up to be an amazing woman."

I had to laugh at that! I don't exactly see myself as an amazing woman, but more of a woman who went through hell and came back like what happened to her during her time in hell didn't phase her.

"I suppose you have a home to settle in to?" Tirion asked me.

I nodded. "Yes! My late friend's sister is setting up a place for me to live with the night elves." I stated as I wrapped my arm around Illidan's right arm. "Since I'm carrying one of their own, I may as well give birth to the baby there when the time comes."

"I'm glad they were kind enough to offer you a place to live." the Paladin acknowledged. "It would be odd of them to not be respectful to one who is bearing a child of their race, even though it's half-human. We will need to have a chat later on!"

I nodded in agreement and Marenus was pulling on my robes. "Momma, am I going to be able to live with you in Darnassus?" He asked innocently.

"Your mother will have to be settled in first before having anyone else move in, young one." A familiar female voice sounded.

We all turned to the direction the voice came from and it was Tyrande herself! For some reason, I had a gut feeling that Illidan would have a reaction so I looked at him and I was suddenly pulled closer to his side by his big hand, making it obvious that I belong to him and he belongs to me.

"Tyrande...you haven't changed one bit." Illidan chattered.

"Can't say the same about you, Illidan. You have a woman now who is clearly like you but at least she has morals and doesn't push the boundaries of said morals." Tyrande scoffed with a smile and I felt Illidan grip my waist and his nails slightly poking into my robes. "But that's in the past! What matters now is that I know everything and that I understand Alyssana's situation a little better."

"Excuse me, Miss Tyrande, when do you think I might be able to live with my mother?" Marenus asked the high priestess, looking up at her in childish wonder.

"Marenus, darling, she already said that it'll take some time before I'm completely settled in." I answered for her as I put my hand on Marenus' left shoulder and he looked at me with the sad puppy eyes. "I know, my dear, you've only been with your mother for a little while, but have patience."

"For the meantime, you should study a bit more on being a Paladin." Illidan mentioned to Marenus, being the fatherly figure that I've wanted to see in Ludwig but he couldn't deliver.

Marenus nodded in understanding to Illidan. "Alright, well I better get back to my foster parents then." He sighed looking at the war glaive Illidan gave him.

"Try not to exaggerate what happened here, young human." Tyrande cautioned him. "Wouldn't want to get your mother into trouble would you?"

Marenus shook his head with a laugh and he gave me and Illidan a quick hug before he ran off to his foster parents' home. "Love you both!"

"Did he just say that he loved us both?" Illidan perplexed. "Does that mean..."

"I think he's starting to see you as his step-father and a good one at that." I jested, putting a hand on his chest and looking up at him in adoration. "And you said you wouldn't be a good father! Pfft!"

"You seriously had doubts about fatherhood?" Tyrande gasped at Illidan.

"Oh come on! You both know what happened for me to look like this and for being an arrogant bastard!" Illidan exclaimed as shrugged.

"Yes, but do you even realise how absolutely adorable you were, talking to Marenus?!" I argued. "He looked at you as if he was talking to his father who actually was clearly hanging in the air! And the way he hugged you! That sold it for me!"

I almost became emotional again but thankfully without the Fel taking over. I was just overjoyed about the interaction between Illidan and Marenus that it melted my heart.

"Please be careful when you go to Northrend, my love." Illidan fretted as he kissed my forehead, then he leant over to my ear as if he were to whisper something. "We will reunite in the Twisting Nether. That's another thing that my soul bind enabled for you to do."

He pulled back and smiled at me before his image faded away into thin air. Tyrande had gestured me to tell her what he said and I lied, only telling her that Illidan said he loved me. I conjured a portal to go back to Darnassus and before I stepped in, I felt the baby, albeit only 13 weeks into my pregnancy, move within my womb. It's as if it knew it's father was here. I felt my heart break at the thought of this but all I can do is raise it without Illidan being around. The best he can do is be there for the birth of his child.


	8. The Dead Remember Yet They Cannot Let Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very pissed off Ludwig tries to come to terms that his marriage to Alyssana is no more and that she has moved on with another man, being Illidan Stormrage. Later, he would come across a familiar place that brings back good memories that are unfortunately dead and gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason why this chapter has no POV is because I think this chapter would be better told from a third person's point of view for Ludwig's side of the story. Maybe in the next chapter, I'll write it in his POV but for now, enjoy this particular chapter!

He had been striking down countless undead for a few hours now, enraged at his how his efforts of drawing Alyssana to his side had failed.

 _'She is a bloody fool!'_ he thought. _'How could she choose a demon like him over me?! He's dead and just a lingering spirit while I'm here in the flesh and fresh from the grave! I know of the wrong I've done but I can make up for it, can I?!'_

He was in the training floor in the floating fortress of the Archeus. Edua, a Draenei priestess turned death knight had been muttering to herself about how reckless Ludwig had become now that he finds out that his ex-wife did not only become powerful, but how she ended up with that demon, Illidan Stormrage. She doesn't blame her for siding with him of course, but she did feel pity for her fellow death knight.

"Hey Eddy!" shouted a voice and the draenei female looked at the direction of the voice to see her orcish lover, Agronak.

He may be an Orc but he died with honour and in his dark rebirth, he kept to that honour. It didn't take long for Agronak to become head over heels for Edua, despite her being a Draenei. She had gently gestured Agronak to keep his voice down as Ludwig kept lopping off heads from zombie after zombie in rage.

"Is he being a drama queen?" he muttered to his beloved.

"Yes, he's been at this for a little while now." she replied to the Orc. "Can't say I blame him though! It's only natural that his ex-wife would somehow move on but he wasn't expecting she'd move on to the Betrayer himself."

Edua sensed another presence nearby and saw Koltira, a blood elf death knight walking towards the Orc and Draenei. "What's going on here?" he inquired.

"Ludwig's in the middle of a tantrum because his ex-wife is the lover of Illidan Stormrage himself." Agronak answered.

"Hmm, word seems to travel around here fast!" Koltira deadpanned as he took a seat next to Edua and so did Agronak. "Apparently, Illidan bound a piece of his soul to Alyssana as he died?"

"Yes, he did! Apparently that's what Ludwig is angry about, which is pretty sad considering that she was the one who killed him." Edua groaned as she went through her rucksack to pull out a large bottle of vodka. "Every time Ludwig makes a war cry in the middle of his tantrum, we take a shot. Who's with me?"

Agronak gladly went along with his Draenei lover's idea, but Koltira wasn't in the right mood to drink. But he found it odd that Edua, a Draenei, the holiest race he ever came across, has a drinking habit.

His curiosity got the best of him. "I'm sorry if I'm coming across as insensitive but...aren't Draenei not supposed to drink?" he cautiously asked her.

After his question, Ludwig had let out a war cry. **One shot**. After Edua gulped down a shot, thankfully it went down smoothly for her, unlike Agronak who choked on his shot when he heard Koltira's question. He tried to gestured Koltira to run for his life but it was too late!

"Well, get this, blood elf! I was once a noble and humble priestess who served the Light in all its glory and when I died, the retched Light abandoned me when the Lich King raised me as one of his cursed undead warriors!" Edua ranted. "I thought to myself that if the Light won't answer me in undeath, I'd revoke the Light and it's religion. If the Draenei and Velen won't accept me as one of theirs when I clearly served them in the past, then to hell with the bloody lot of them! Since I am free of their standards, I can drink and go on a gory and bloodthirsty killing spree all I want!"

Koltira's face screamed the expression of shock as he heard Edua rant about how she was cast out from her society as a whole because she's a death knight.

"However, the only good thing that has come out of this is meeting this handsome lug!" Edua cooed as she scratched her Orc's bearded chin and he chuckled shyly. "My big precious shnookems!"

Hearing another war cry from Ludwig, both Edua and Agronak took another shot! Then, Darion Mograine had made an appearance on the training floor and Agronak had quickly helped Edua hide the alcohol and stood up and saluted to Darion as he walked up to them.

"Knights, I know things have changed for probably the worst but I am glad you're still here." Darion chattered. "What's gone into lieutenant Ludwig?"

"He's been like this for hours, Mograine. Ever since he found out his ex-wife had moved on to a demon named Illidan Stormrage, he's been furious since then." Koltira explained.

"Didn't his son also have a positive reaction to Illidan being with Alyssana?" Edua inquired.

"In fact he did and uh, I think it'd be an understatement to say that Soulterror's not happy about it." Koltira snorted trying to stifle a laugh. "He's really furious but it's hilarious! Because if I'm correct, wasn't he the one who...fucked up?"

"That demon bastard is taking my family away from me!!!" Ludwig roared as he summoned an abomination undead. "How dare he run his dirty hands all over her?! The bitch is fucking blind to his true intentions!!!"

"What family? You were never a faithful man to start with." Koltira muttered to himself. "I think I'll be having that shot now."

"You're drinking when the Lich King is biding his forces?" Darion lectured Koltira.

"With all due respect, Darion, Ludwig had made a game out of himself. Each time he makes a war cry, we take a shot." Edua chuckled, trying to defend Koltira's request.

Darion only shook his head and made his way back to the upper floor. Then the abomination went down, dead on the floor with his head chopped off! Ludwig walked towards Edua, Agronak and Koltira exhausted and tired after taking out his rage on the poor undead.

"Done already?" Edua simply asked him. "We didn't even make it to three shots!"

All Ludwig could do was shake his head at Edua and he went to take a seat and slump over with his head in his hands. The only thing he could think about was Alyssana! Hearing her laughter while she was with the spirit of Illidan made his soul rage with unrest. He couldn't fully accept that his ex-wife would move on to someone such as Illidan and neither could he ever accept that Alyssana is okay with Illidan's "mental control", at least that's how Ludwig sees it. Even if she told him about Illidan's good intentions on prolonging his existence within her soul, Ludwig still wouldn't have it! Not even telling her that he still loved her would win her to his side, yet Ludwig could never explain what **really** happened **that night**. He could've sworn that he was under some sort of possession but he didn't have the words to describe it. It felt like his own consciousness blacked out while the foreign host took over the body and did the rest, leading to Ludwig's death by Fel Fire. He shuddered at the thought, the feeling of being burnt alive searing into his undead skin yet there was no pain! He could cry but he couldn't bring himself to weep in front of his fellow knights, only in front of Alyssana when they last spoke.

"Ludwig..." Edua spoke up. "I know that things are perilous between you and Alyssana but the one thing you can do is try to be there for her when the worst comes about! Even though the soul of Illidan Stormrage still lingers within her, there's a few things you need to keep in mind."

"And what's that?" Ludwig asked her in a sarcastic tone, as if he already knew what she was about to say.

"First of all; When it comes to a woman who is obviously not single and ready to mingle, you cannot touch her." Edua began to explain. "Second; She is your ex-wife! Ever since she killed you, the marital bond between the two of you was destroyed and so you have no say on what she does, how she feels or what she says in general. You have no power over her and you never had anyway! And third; I know you two have a son together but that's just about it. You two are merely co-parenting!"

The human death knight was waiting for Edua to lecture him even more but that was it. Although he wished he could've been told this sooner before the recent events, now he had three things to remember when he's around Alyssana;   
1\. His opinions on her personal life don't matter  
2\. He cannot touch her or even attempt anything romantic or affectionate towards her as he'll just get his ass kicked.  
And 3. They are parents to their son Marenus but since Ludwig and Alyssana are not a couple, they'll have to resort to co-parenting, which won't be easy for Ludwig.

The more he thought about this, the more he dreaded being in Alyssana's enticing presence. As he was deep in his thoughts, a female night elf death knight walked up to Ludwig.

"Hey, I overheard you talking about Alyssana earlier!" she mentioned. "I was able to pop in and out of Darnassus and she's there moving into a new home, in case you wanted to know."

Ludwig simply nodded and thanked the night elf for her report on Alyssana.

"It's a shame too." The night elf chattered to Ludwig, making him look straight at her. "She kills you and she gets karma later on having to watch her beloved die in front of her."

**Snap!**

"As much as I would relish in that irony," Ludwig boomed as he stood up, catching the attention of everybody in the room. "She didn't deserve to watch Illidan die in front of her!"

Edua, Agronak and Koltira had a mixed expression of shock and pride as they watched their friend stand up for his ex-wife's reputation. As much as Ludwig knew that Alyssana disliked him, he wouldn't let anyone disrespect her behind her back!

"As much as it pains what's left of my still heart, I'm glad that Illidan loved her in the way that she wanted to be loved!" He continued, trying not to let his jaw shudder at the very things he's spouting. "I couldn't give all of that to her when we were wed and so it was only natural that along the line, somebody would give her everything she wanted! I don't care if I still love her, she has everything she's ever wanted and big deal if I'm not in the picture! I'm happy that she's moved on, that she's having a child with that demon, I'm happy that she's happier without me!"

After that outburst, he opened a death gate to his old home in Elywnn Forest and went through it then closed it as soon as he stepped through. The house was still intact! He couldn't sense any living beings in the building so he cautiously made his way to the entrance and he found that the door was opened. There were a couple of rats here and there, scattering about but, everything seemed to be in place. Except for one thing! A dresser that was near the door entrance had a drawer opened and it's contents were empty. Ludwig would've wondered who did this but he didn't want to dive deep into that thought. He abandoned his search of the dresser, closing the drawer and continued to look around until he saw a picture frame, depicting a photo of him and Alyssana on their wedding day. He picked it up and brought it closer for him to see the details of the picture and a tiny amount of tears escaped his eyes as he reminisced that beautiful day! Alyssana had her thick dark brown hair in waves from when she plaited it the night before, her wedding veil was adorned with mageroyal flowers and her wedding dress shown her hourglass figure which hugged her curves and it had a puffy bottom and last but not least, the bouquet she was carrying had Steelbloom flowers. Then Ludwig looked closer at her face! She had natural makeup on with nude eyeshadow and lipstick and black eyeliner and mascara and he specifically remembered the perfume she used too. It was sweet with a hint of coconut which balanced out the sweetness to not make it so overwhelming.

Ludwig then focused on her facial expression in the photo. ' _The way she smiled, the way she laughed and the way she kissed me...it felt so heavenly!_ ' He thought to himself. ' _If only I didn't throw my lot in with the Cult of the Damned, we would've been happy._ '

He sighed heavily with a tinge of sadness, knowing still that Alyssana is much more happier without him and she didn't have love for him anymore. Even though he said back at the Archeus that he accepted that she's moved on, it would take time for the death knight to come to terms that he would have to forfeit his love for her. He put the photo back where it once was and continued to look around. The bedroom had been left untouched and he wondered about the latrine, so he checked and thankfully it was empty! As a death knight, he wouldn't need to be using it, but if he had living guests over, he'd have to make sure it's emptied so they can relieve themselves without worrying about an awful stench. He shook his head at the thought with a chuckle and walked to another room which held the study. This is was the only place that was ransacked! Without panicking, he looked all around the room and saw papers scattered all over the floor. Then he heard footsteps from a few feet behind him!

"I thought you would come back here." said a familiar voice.

Ludwig turned around to see Alyssana in purple and white robes. Her hair was singed black due to her usage of Fel magic but yet it's beauty remained intact, flowing ever so elegantly with a luscious shine and it was tied up in a high ponytail with a wavy fringe that almost covered her right eye. She bore the Kirin Tor tabard as well as a black and green hearthstone as her necklace, including the ring Illidan had given her when he proposed on her left ring finger. Her eyes were no longer bloodshot and she had a blank expression on her face, as if being in the presence of her ex-husband did not phase her. She also had her staff behind her, clutched to her back. The jewel at the very top was heart-shaped and it changed colours from time to time and little crystals spun around the jewel in rings like an atom. The very foundation of the staff was wooden, as if it came from a branch or bark from a tree and to Ludwig, a strange symbol was carved into the wood just below the top of the staff, but to Alyssana the symbol represented the demon hunters, also known as the Illidari. Even though it's been 5 years, Alyssana still kept her curvy hourglass figure!

"Have you come here to finally kill me?" Ludwig scoffed with a relaxed smirk.

"No, my behaviour was a bit rash back there." Alyssana muttered, clicking her nails on her right hand. "I simply came here because I wanted to do a little cleaning, just incase someone might be interested in living here."

"I'd doubt it but I find your reason a little odd." The death knight chuckled which made Alyssana frown with a sigh. "Did you really come here to clean up the place or did you know that I was going to be here?"

Alyssana closed her eyes with a deep breath and exaggerated her exhale. "You know, I'm sorry that you still love me, even after what I did."

"You're not the one who should be apologising." Ludwig mumbled. "I'm sorry that I couldn't accept the fact that you've truly moved on, but I was able to come to my senses earlier. Edua had to give me a knock on the head to realise that!"

For the first time, he had heard Alyssana giggle like a little girl. He had to hide the fact that he was happy to see her laugh again so he changed the subject. "So someone here ransacked the study. Why would they do this? What could possibly be important here?"

"Actually I had a hand in that." The mage snickered which caused the death knight's eyes to widen in shock. "You see, Norwell exposed me for killing you and since the whole of the Alliance wanted my head on a platter, I had to arrange for someone to find evidence for my innocence and for your involvement with the Cult of the Damned. And well, you can imagine what they found out about you, hence their displeasure of you existing again as a dead ballsack."

"Okay can you stop being so fucking vulgar?!" Ludwig snapped, slamming his fist on a nearby desk which left a dent in the woodwork. "For goodness sake, how is it that Illidan put up with your ridiculous vocabulary for a few months?!"

"To be fair, I learnt it from him." The mage fired back with a snort and a chuckle. "Look, the whole reason why Norwell died was because he told the Alliance of my crime and Illidan had him killed to protect me!"

"Now that you mention it," Ludwig hissed, walking into Alyssana's personal space. "Since Illidan can hear me through you, I'll ask him this; Did you really think you can stop me from pursuing Alyssana? How do you know that she won't betray you and come by my side when she finds her common sense?!"

With a demonic snarl, Alyssana's fel corruption took over and pinned down Ludwig, trying to choke him. He was trying to get her off of him but he couldn't help but notice how quickly Alyssana had let her Fel magic take over her! Her black hair was now flared up in strands, her eyes were glowing with Fel energy, cracks of the Fel appeared on her face, her canines have grown into full-on fangs and the framing of her face had a hint of dark purple. Her body was no different either, only it glowed with the eerie green colour of the Fel!

"Talk shit about him again, death knight and I won't be afraid to let Illidan take over my body whenever you piss me off!" She growled in a demonic voice and she got up from Ludwig's body and stormed out of the house.

The death knight stood back up and watched his magical ex-wife teleport away, probably back to her new home in Darnassus and he heeded her words about cleaning up the house, although the only difference was that Ludwig wasn't going to let anyone move into this place. The words he said back at the Archeus started to ring in his head;

_"I'm happy that she's happier without me!"_

It would continue to ring in his head, making him space out and without knowing it, he found himself in a clean study room. He went to the bedroom where he and Alyssana would lay in after eating a hearty dinner. He still remembered how she would wait for him, all laid out in bed waiting for her warrior to take her and how after they made love, they'd sleep in the next day, appreciating one another's physical presence. Now, the memories of their love-making are just a thing of the past and it saddened Ludwig, but he had to stick by his word and do his best to just be there for Alyssana as a friend, nothing more.


	9. Corruption or Affliction? (Alyssana's P.O.V)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alyssana has to find a place to live in Kalimdor while she carries the child of Illidan and Velen has called for her to discuss the Fel that runs through her veins.

I had recently returned to Darnassus after my confrontation with Ludwig. I had the intention of going to our old home to destroy it as it bears memories I cannot yet face. However, I remembered Illidan's teachings from when he was still alive;

_"Memories are an important part of what makes us who we are. Whether it be good or bad and whether we like it or not, we must face them when an event that's similar to a certain memory is upon us. It's how we process that event compared to our similar memory that is either repeated, prevented or changed."_

He even mentioned how I repeated an event from my past. How I repeated my decision.

_"When you killed Ludwig, it was all because you caught him cheating on you and you found out about his plans to betray you which was to kill you and take away your child after they're born and turn them into a weapon for the Lich King. Norwell betrayed you by exposing your murder of Ludwig not only to the Alliance, but to your son as well. And what did you do? You killed him! Two men who were a part of your life, you had killed when you found out about their betrayal. One who planned it and one who had done it."_

I will never forget that lesson, ever! Since I've made history repeat itself once, I will not do so again. Not with my baby that's on the way! I've already abandoned one for five years, I won't abandon this one! When I went back to Darnassus after my encounter with Illidan, Tyrande had pulled me aside and told me that I will have to see the Draenei prophet and leader they call Velen to help me with my problem with the Fel. He has seen Fel corruption once before in the orcs of the First Horde. He's also seen how most of his people on his home world joined the Legion and how they changed into demonic beings. However, he has never seen Fel Corruption in a human like me but my case is **very** different. As a new-born, I was fed Fel energy by my parents because the cult they were a part of thrived on the use of the Fel. I never got the name of said cult, but I'm sure I'll come across them someday and try to find my parents if they're still alive. I may have a glimmer of hatred for them, but I always had this feeling that maybe they were forced to do so? I won't know until I find out about them, though. Yet, I have hope that someday, my beginning will be clarified! In a way, I was glad that Ludwig was there at our old home because if I destroyed the house, then I would be repeating the event of when I burnt down the barn where Ludwig was about to cheat on me with that woman. I was strolling about in the city of Darnassus and a lot of the night elves didn't really take my presence kindly, but a few who were in peace with my existence here did reach out to me, saying that they're glad I'm well and that they're thankful Illidan did do something good for once. I still get dirty looks but I'm above it! If I could deal with it throughout my senior years, I can deal with it again. I was cut out of my thoughts when I heard footsteps running up to me and I looked up and saw Seanna!

"Alyssana, hey!" she shouted, panting as she stopped in front of me. "We need to discuss something, it's very important!"

"What happened?" I gasped.

"We...don't really have room here for you to move in. I'm so sorry!" she blurted with a whine. "But we have outposts in Lor'danel and Ashenvale! We could help you find a place in those locations."

Then something clicked in my head and I was about say something but it seemed like Seanna was frozen still with a horribly contorted look on her face. I looked around and everybody had become frozen! They obviously didn't have ice around them but it was as if time had stopped in the entire city. I frantically ran around to see if there was a source or somebody that could be causing it but my efforts proved futile! Then I heard Illidan's voice in my head again.

_"Alyssana, my love! What's happened?"_

"I don't know, but time in this place had stopped suddenly as I was talking to Seanna!" I replied to Illidan in panic, even though it seemed like I was talking to the air. "How do I stop this? I need to do something before the Bronze Dragonflight cuts my head off!"

As a mage, having the power of the Arcane means having the power of time, space and the ability to shape reality. The Bronze Dragonflight are the Keepers of Time itself and if they find out about this time lock, you can be sure they will be pissed and point their claws at me as the culprit. As I kept rattling around in my brain on how to fix this, Illidan's shade manifested beside me!

"Are you sure you didn't do this on purpose?" He asked me worryingly.

"Of course not! I have no idea how this happened!!!" I panicked with a shriek.

Suddenly, a bronze dragon flew over Darnassus and it settled on the ground and transformed into a female gnome!

"Whew, the flight here wasn't so bad!" She chuckled in her high pitched voice.

I recognised her immediately. She was known as Chronormu or most known as Chromie. She's a dragon from the Bronze Dragonflight and they're the masters of time itself! I ran up to her along with Illidan's shade following me closely behind and before I could say anything, she spoke before I did.

"It seems that everyone's stuck in a time lock, except you two! Why is that?" She asked me.

"I don't know, Chromie but I will tell you this; Even if I made this happen, this wasn't on purpose, I swear!" I exclaimed. "I don't know how this happened!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Alyssana! It's okay! I knew this would happen anyway!" Chromie chuckled again as she levitated in the air and held my hands with her tiny hands. "Your powers are growing, Miss Runelight. This is simply an accident!"

I sighed with relief and Illidan laughed behind me and I knew that laugh all too well. He laughed like that whenever I did or said something that was silly to him!

I looked back at him with a stern look. "It's not funny! I didn't know that I could stop time like this in a whole area!"

"What do you think may have triggered this time lock, though?" Chromie asked me as she levitated away from me and landed on the ground. "Did someone say something to you?"

"Well it's either that or when I remembered something." I replied to her.

"What were you talking about?" Chromie asked me again, only because she wanted to know the details.

"I was talking to Seanna about looking for a place to live. She told me that they have no room here in Teldrassil for me so she suggested either Lor'danel or Ashenvale." I explained to Chromie with Illidan's shade standing beside me. "As soon as she mentioned Ashenvale, that's when I remembered something!"

"What did you remember?" Chromie inquired.

I looked at Illidan who was wondering about my memory as well. "Illidan, just so you know, I couldn't remember this until now..." I began. "...but I recall a place I made myself a home in after I killed my ex-husband. Fearing that if my secret were to get out that I killed my ex-husband out of blind rage, I made myself a little escape for if things go wrong. Seems like that place is needed now since it's the only place I can think of since it would be suitable as my new home."

"And you've got everything from back at the Black Temple?" Illidan wondered as his hand, although in shade form was placed on my right shoulder.

I nodded at him as I pointed at my backpack that I was carrying and I went back to look at Chromie who was fiddling around with a magical gear. "So you know where it is! In that case, why don't you and Illidan teleport there and I'll have a small discussion with Seanna." the little gnome dragon beamed.

With a nod, I started to cast the teleportation spell to what could be my new home. I felt Illidan's physical touch again as he wrapped his arms around me as the spell neared it's end of casting. Within a flash, we had teleported on a cliff that overlooked both the Raynewood Tower and the pathway into the Fel Woods. I had thought about maybe doing a Dalaran and teleport this tree house somewhere else where it's more peaceful, but is there such a thing in this world? No not really, unless you're really lucky to be in a place where it's not ravaged by demons, undead and the like! Nevertheless, this towering tree would have to do. Its bark had a subtle purple tone and its leaves would change colour depending on the seasons and they would glow when the sun had gone down. But since I'm living in the part of Kalimdor where the Night Elves thrive, it almost seems dark everyday, yet I'm not complaining. I was never a morning person growing up and I'm not one now and I won't be one soon! The last time I came here, it was before I had set out to go to Outland and now I'm here, the tree still looks to be in pristine care.

"Do you think anyone may have pilfered the tower while you were with me?" Illidan questioned me.

"No, it should be impossible!" I reassured him. "I put up wards to cloak the place so no trespassers would find it."

"You know you just sounded like a guardian of Azeroth? Putting up invisibility wards and all?" Illidan chortled with a snort.

I was going to punch his arm but then I remembered that he's a shade so I can't attack him whatsoever. "To add to it, I named this place Solitude Lookout, after I had officially settled in a few years ago." I jested at him with a smirk which made Illidan bite his bottom lip as he looked at me up and down. "You're such a perv!"

"Well, I can't help it if the love of my life who is more beautiful than the stars of Azeroth is one hell of a mage!" he flirted with a wink and I blushed trying to hold in a giggle.

Shaking my head at him, I started making my way to the entrance of the tower. The door was magically locked thankfully and unconsciously, I uttered a spell that unlocked the door! Even though it's been a while since I've lived here, I still knew how to get into my own escape tower. The inside of the lookout held a lounge room in the middle with a working fireplace and a chandelier of Thorium shards hanged above the room! To my left was an archway that lead into the kitchen and I checked inside and it was still clean, but I started to get a little itchy so I knew dust had settled in here! Walking out of the kitchen, to my left again was a stairway that spiralled to the next floor of the lookout which if I can recall, lead to my study and my bedroom. I didn't realise that Illidan was actually walking up the stairs and I was too busy being lost in thought, so I quickly followed up and I saw the door in my bedroom was unlocked! I peeked in the doorway to find that thankfully no one's been here.

_'I must've left it open when I was in a hurry to get to Outland!'_

After exhaling a sigh of relief, I even almost forgot that the reason why I called this place Solitude Lookout was because just across of my bedroom was a pillared balcony! Without thinking, I had walked to the balcony and I had a beautiful view of a small lake that almost looked as if I was looking at a mirror of the skies itself. I remembered that in the morning, as soon as I would wake up, I would come here to check on the weather as I could always tell by the appearance of the sky. Again, I felt a familiar touch upon the side of my neck and I looked to my left to see my demon hunter, tall and proud, looking over the lake that would soon be delightfully swarming with fireflies. With his hands being huge, I had to hold his hand with both of mine and I leaned my face into his hand.

"This is a really beautiful home! How come you didn't remember this?" Illidan asked me. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Well, in case you forgot already, Illidan, you captured me!" I sassed at him with a cheeky smile. "So, of course I wasn't gonna tell ya! Then as we both know, my magical ass fell for your horny demonic butt and vice versa and along the way, I had simply forgotten about it until now because I thought I was going to have to stay with you at the Black Temple for a long time!"

Illidan simply blinked at me with an expression of fear but he also looked as if he was going to laugh at me. I stared him down until he broke out in laughter!

"I can't take you seriously at this point because you're just so cute when you get sassy at me!" he laughed. "I'm sorry my dear, you're just so adorable when you get like this."

His back-handed compliments started to piss me off. "Adorable?" I seethed with a mischievous grin across my face and I suddenly started to see a green hue cover my eyesight which meant my Fel corruption was about to take over, but I held it down. "What's adorable is that you never told me about your chamber full of blood elf and human concubines!"

Now his "eyes" had widened and the Fel green in his eyes had started to glow brighter. "I don't know how you know about that and I have no idea where this hostility is coming from but that was Kael's idea, not mine, I swear!" He stuttered. "Alyssana, did you really think I'd be stupid enough to cheat on you?!"

"Actually yeah, you do have your dumb moments." I scoffed at him as I took his hand off my shoulder. "How did I find out? Whenever you were gone, back when you were alive of course, I'd always hear some Naga and Satyrs talk trash about me! Saying that you should've put me in the Chamber of Mortal Desires since I looked like a toy standing next to you...and that you'd have more fun with a concubine who wasn't emotionally attached to you. Under the cover of darkness, I went to take a look at the chamber myself and my heart sank to the ground, knowing it was true about what they said about the concubines. Why didn't you tell me about them? Especially when we were together?!"

I couldn't look him in the eye any longer as I realised what I was saying. Was I seriously trying to instigate an argument between me and Illidan? Not that I meant it, but for some reason I felt like it had to be said. His clawed hand carefully grabbed my chin to make me look up at him then he grabbed my waist to lift me and he pulled me closer to him to be face to face with him.

"The reason why I didn't tell you about the chamber is because I was already yours when you came to The Black Temple. Sure, I went there a couple of times, but **that** was **before** we met. **Before you arrived**!" Illidan explained to me, looking at me directly in the eye that left me frozen in place. "When you came to the temple, I fell head over hooves for you! At first it was due to appearance because your features were so appealing to me that I could fall asleep looking at you and admiring your beauty. Then, as the days went by, we got to know each other a little more better to the point where we gave in and made love that night. I will tell you again and thousand times more if I have to; **I love you** and **only you**!"

With that, I wrapped my arms around the top of his back and he pulled me in for a massive hug. "I'm sorry that I never told you about it but I didn't know if I should've, knowing that we were together." he whispered in my ear. "Ever since you came into my life, I haven't gone back ever since as I was too focused on you. You are my priority, not them!"

"From now on, we have to be honest with each other and I know it may seem like a recipe for disaster, but I don't want anymore secrets between us." I stated to Illidan as I pulled away to face him, looking directly into his eyes.

He nodded with a smile and pulled me into a deep kiss that instantly made me melt inside. When it comes to Illidan's kisses, they always make me feel a little better about myself. This time, I feel as if a great weight on my shoulders has been taken off entirely! He suddenly put me in a position where I was being carried in a bridal style and he walked over to my bed and lightly dropped down on it. Bouncing a bit on the bed, he climbed on top of me, giving me **that** look. Knowing what that look meant, I was about to use my magic to take my clothes off but Illidan had already begun tearing off my clothes like they were paper! Giggling from this, Illidan's shade had begun to manifest in a physical form again and I'm pretty sure that it's either I unknowingly "helped" him manifest with my magic or somehow, he did it by himself. Regardless, he started to feel me up, gliding his clawed hands all over my bare body, sending tingles that made me yelp or moan, until his hands met with my breasts and he lightly squeezed them, biting his bottom lip with an devilish smile.

"It feels like it's been too long since I've played with these." He purred with delight. "They feel a little bit bigger than before."

"Well, it's because I'm pregnant, Illidan, incase you were forgetting already!" I joked at him with a giggle.

Then he swooped his head near my belly and started giving it kisses which tickled a lot! "Now how could I forget that my mate is carrying my young?" he cooed as he nuzzled my belly with his nose and he went further down to my lady part and stabbed the lips with his tongue, making me jolt in surprise. "By Elune's grace, you're such a little fucking whore! All wet, just for me like the needy little whore you are."

Usually, I'd get offended by such words, but when it came to relationship matters, I didn't mind the names. In fact, I love being degraded as it makes me so much more excited! Again, only if it's for the purpose of making love. He separated the lips of my lady part to start eating me out, sliding his wet tongue up and down from my entrance to my clitoris. This sent me on a craze, making me twitch from the jolts of pleasure shooting up from my clitoris and up into my brain and I couldn't keep my mouth shut as I couldn't help but shout Illidan's name over and over in ecstasy.

"Good girl..." he growled, looking at me as his Fel eyes glowed brightly. "I think that should be enough until tonight."

I whined in frustration, giving him the angry pouty face I always pull when he teases me like this. But I understood as I know that sex can be better at night where you get to scream to your heart's content. I may have to create a spell ward that can make an entire area soundproof but only for occasions like making love to Illidan whenever he manifests himself into this realm. I nodded at him and he gave me a huge kiss before he disappeared into thin air, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

_"I wonder if he heard what Ludwig said about him pursuing me regardless if I'm still with Illidan."_

Shaking my head to get myself out of a rabbit hole of wonder, I magically repaired my robes and I got myself dressed so I could go and visit Velen. He had taken an interest in my Fel corruption but apparently, he wants to know if he can free me of it. Although, I doubt it because if the Orcs from the First Horde couldn't escape their corruption without lingering memories and the defeat of the demon they bargained with, what if I can't escape it because I was fed Fel energy right after I was born? Who knows, maybe Velen may have a solution! I created a portal to the outside of the Exodar and as I went through, I stepped onto soft grass and I felt the soft breeze of the wind flowing through my hair. The sky was a lilac purple with twinkling stars and giant moths were flying around aimlessly. Then I saw the Draenei were eyeing me with curiosity and I instantly felt naked! Then again, I'm a human among them and I don't think they trust me since I was in love with a demon so I made my way to the Exodar with my head up high, ignoring the strange looks they were giving me. I was struggling to not feel alienated by them but as I reached the entrance of the Exodar, I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Velen waiting for me.

"Greetings, mage! I've been told that you would come around here!" He greeted me wholeheartedly.

"Hello Velen!" I greeted him back. "Yes, Tyrande told me that you wanted to see me about something?"

"Yes I wanted to talk to you about your Fel problem. Come along!" He addressed, gesturing me to follow him.

We walked down the pathway to main centre of the Exodar and I was taken aback by the view. The walls were colossal, purple and pink lights could be seen lighting up the area, although one area that seemed to be north of the large room was lit up in yellow and gold tones. Velen signalled to me to head towards the place with yellow and gold light so I followed him there. Once we got to our destination, Velen sat down on a nearby table and invited me to sit across from him.

"So, Alyssana..." he began, clearing his throat. "...from what I've been told, you were born from a cult that thrived on the use of the Fel. To my understanding, the reason why you have the power of the Fel within you is because you were fed Fel energy after you were born?"

"Yes, that is correct." I answered him. "Although, I'm not sure if it's an affliction or a full corruption."

"Hmmm, it would make sense if it was corruption due to the fact that you were exposed to it from birth, so you would grow up with it's power. Affliction however, it could only last for so long." the prophet conversed. "From what I know, you've been taught to suppress the Fel if you ever show signs that you were about to use it, as a child no less."

"Yes, the Fel was more potent when I was younger, easily being empowered by my unpredictable emotions." I explained. "As I grew, I began to find it easier to supress the Fel, making it almost as if it never existed."

"Until Illidan." he added. "He told you to unlock the Fel, didn't he? To interrogate your opponents and demons if need be."

"Yeah and from that day on, it was as if I could control the Fel within me." I nodded, agreeing with Velen. "But then...when Illidan died in front of me..."

"That's when you lost control." he finished my sentence. "The Fel, feeding upon your pure anger and hatred for Maiev had taken over you, but only for a brief moment. Now, with all the events that are occurring, your control of the Fel has become unhinged, almost as if Illidan's death had somehow made you forget how to supress that power. Almost as if..."

"As if I was meant to use it." I gasped. "But I know that the Fel feeds on life itself and I can't rely on that as a source for me to use the Fel. Plus, I'm living amongst the night elves! Can you imagine if they were to find me using the Fel as my main source of power?"

"They definitely wouldn't be happy about that!" Velen nodded, confirming my fear. "Don't forget the Horde as well. If their soldiers and spies were to find out about your Fel issue, they would send someone to dispatch you!"

"I didn't think about that!" I shuddered, knowing that most denizens within the Horde have no love for those who use the Fel. "I doubt they would find me though. I've set up a place where no one can find me unless I know who they are."

"Good!" Velen said with a nod and a smile. "The only thing you can do is try not to use the Fel as much as you can. I know it's easier to say rather than do, but all you can do is try. I will see if the Naaru could help me find some answers to your problem with the Fel and once I do, I will send a message."

I smiled at Velen, thanking him for his guidance and I started casting a teleportation spell to take me back home. Once I appeared back home, I let out a huge sigh of relief! From what I gathered from Velen, it is unknown if the Fel within me is a corruption or an affliction. Yet, I find sense in his words about it being corruption since it's the only thing that seemed about right. I do hope that Velen can find a solution soon because I'm not sure how long it will be until the Fel becomes so painful to bear that I will give in to it's control over me. But that's not happening today! All I can do is start learning how to supress it again but more effectively and maybe, just maybe, find out about the cult that I was born in.


	10. Journey To the Land of Ice and Death (Ludwig's P.O.V)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ludwig is still trying to come to terms that Alyssana is still in love with Illidan and he can't touch her, thanks to their soulbind. Him, Alyssana, Edua along with Thassarian finally make their way to Northrend! Along the way, Ludwig tries to form some sort of friendship with his ex wife.

After I cleaned up my old home and hid away the old memories of me and Alyssana, I created a Death Gate to head back to the Archeus. Everyone seemed to be in a slight scramble as I heard so many voices speak almost all at once! I spotted Edua and her Agronak and I made my way to them, waving as they noticed me.

"Ah, Ludwig you're back! Where did you go?" Edua asked with concern. "We thought you might've raided a small village that was swarming with the living!"

"No, I went back to my old home that I lived in with Alyssana." I replied with a sigh. "I ran into her after a while of being there and we had a bit of a confrontation."

"And why was that?" the Draenei huffed a question with an annoyed expression. "What did you say to her?"

I felt as if Edua would hit me if I told her the truth but there's no use in lying to her. "Knowing that Illidan is bound to her soul, he was still 'alive' so he could hear anything that Alyssana can hear. So my dumbass, the jealous ex-husband side of me, came out and challenged him by saying that I didn't care if Alyssana had moved on and that I would pursue her no matter the cost."

**SLAP!**

"You bloody fucking idiot! What are you, the dumbest death knight I've ever met?!" Edua chastised me with a hard slap across my face. "What compelled you to just say that in front of Alyssana, especially when Illidan is listening?! What have I told you before? **She**. **Has**. **Moved**. **ON**! Meaning **she**. **Doesn't**. **Love**. **You**. **Any**. **MORE**! And what happened to your little speech back then, about accepting the fact that she's with someone else?! Don't you remember that?!"

"I do remember what I said, it's just hard because I still love her!" I retaliated.

"If you don't stop your pursuit of her, then I'm just gonna ally myself with her and tell her how to curve your dumbass over and over whenever you make a move on her, because **this**. **Is**. **Fucking**. **BULLSHIT**!" she exploded, getting close to my voice, shouting the last few words and getting louder.

"Hey what's going on here?" Darion commanded. "Edua, what's with all the yelling at Lieutenant Soulterror?"

"Nothing important, Mograine." she groaned, shaking her head at me. "Do we have a mission?"

"Yes, I need the two of you and Thassarian to report to Stormwind." Darion demanded. "King Wrynn had specifically asked for a trio of my best Knights to travel to Northrend...with a companion."

"Has he disclosed who that might be?" I asked the Highlord himself.

The Highlord then turned to face me. "You'll find out who it is when you get there. He's also made it clear that you, Ludwig, are to not personally bother said companion in any way." He articulated. "Edua, you are to make sure this companion is protected at all costs. I am sorry to separate you and Agronak, but this is only for the time being until you two are reunited."

When Edua and Agronak were risen up, all they could think about was violence and gore! Probably, that's why they got along so well to the point they became lovers. Darion was made aware of their relationship and he only relied on them to keep their love for each other behind closed doors when it came to a mission. Otherwise, they could be all over each other as much as they liked. I do wonder though if Darion did have someone in his life when he was still alive, but I wouldn't dare ask him that!

"Thank you, Highlord!" Edua thanked Darion. "We'll be on our way to Stormwind as soon as we are ready."

"Try to be quick about it." the Highlord agreed and turned away, but then he stopped and turned to Koltira who was leaning on the corner of a wall, looking edgy as hell. "Oh and Koltira? You and Agronak will report to the Horde's Warchief, Thrall and head to Northrend from Orgrimmar."

The blood elf death knight nodded in understanding and went back to brooding. Agronak looked at Edua with sad glowing eyes and looked down at her hooves.

"Aww, Naki!" Edua cooed at him, trying to comfort him by saying her pet name for him. "I know we will be apart for a while, but it's only temporary! While we are in different places, my love for you will never change and I'll be thinking of you every step of the way, even after we're reunited."

"I know, my gore princess and I'll be doing the same." the Orc promised his Draenei lover. "I love you, my dearest."

They both shared an eskimo kiss and they turned away from each other to pack their belongings for their separate journeys. I had a sudden feeling of heartache as I began to remember how me and Alyssana used to be. We used to be like Edua and Agronak, but I was still alive obviously. I know I said that I accepted that Alyssana is with another man, a demon no less, but in my heart, I still have the love for her from when we were together. If I want to be in Alyssana's life, I have to rid myself of the love I have for her. If I have to be in her presence...it'll certainly be difficult to forget about the memories we made together. I packed everything that I needed along with my runeblade and Thassarian had opened a Death Gate to the entrance of Stormwind and we all went through, including Edua. However, we were immediately met with Stormwind guards yet again! They all had a mean look on their faces as if they still don't accept that we're part of their Alliance now.

"Watch your backs when you walk around here, death knights." a soldier jeered. "Just because our King ordered us to let you roam around the streets of Stormwind doesn't mean we accept your existence here!"

"If that is so, how come **that mage** was treated differently?" Thassarian spoke up with a simple question. "She had committed the crime of killing a member of the Alliance and yet you let her roam the streets? The double standards here are...preposterous!"

"Let them through!" shouted a male voice. "Otherwise, you'll have your king to speak to!"

A man all dressed in black armour was revealed to us as the guards moved away to clear a path for us to walk into Stormwind. "Sorry about that, we're still on edge after the Scourge attacks." he apologised. "Name's Shaw. Mathias Shaw."

"We're 'pleased' to meet you, Mathias." Thassarian cleared his throat. "We are on urgent business with the King and he had summoned us to meet with him."

"I'm here to escort you to the Keep. Please follow closely." Shaw affirmed us and gestured us to follow him throughout Stormwind.

At least this time, garbage wasn't getting thrown at us! We made our way to the Keep and we stopped by a room where the King, a mage, Velen and Tirion Fordring were gathered at a large table with a large-scale map of Northrend. Since Velen is here, I'm pretty sure Edua would have a tight lip around him and later, you can bet she'll rant about how much she hates Velen!

"Death Knights! I'm glad Darion sent you three, we must discuss a plan on taking down the forces of the Lich King." Wrynn greeted us. "Your companion should be arriving in a moment."

"Edua, you've been chosen by Darion as one of his best Death Knights?" Velen perplexed.

All she did was nod a reply and I could hear Edua sighing heavily yet quietly through her nose like an angered bull ready to run down its opponent! A portal opened up on the left side of the room which meant our "companion" was about to step through...

_'Oh for fucks sake! Are you fucking kidding me?!'_

Out of everyone that could be our bloody companion, my ex-wife steps in! I think the other mage could tell how annoyed I was because she was trying to hold in a laugh.

"King Wrynn! With all due respect, why did the companion have to be my ex wife who loathes me to the point where she could actually kill me at any given time?!" I groaned aloud. "How do we know that she won't kill me as soon as we're alone?"

"Hey, you're not the only one who's not happy about this but I'm doing it anyway for the better of Azeroth!" Alyssana scoffed. "So Varian, how are we getting to Northrend?"

"We'll need to travel by boat. We've already established a foothold at the shores of the Borean Tundra." he addressed, ignoring my question. "Valiance Keep is how you'll be getting into Northrend and you'll be heading out tomorrow!"

I lowly growled under my breath, knowing that I will have to be around my ex-wife for a while. And I even said that it'll be difficult to get over her when she's around me, but nope! Here she is, in the flesh and pregnant with a child that's not mine, but belongs to a demon!

"Soulterror!" the King called out to me, snapping me out of my own thoughts. "Is it going to be a problem that Alyssana will accompany your trio to Northrend?"

"No, not at all!" I lied. "In fact, it would be great to have a mage of her skills to help us take down the Lich King's forces in Northrend."

 _'Okay, I'm not lying about the fact that she's powerful but_ **_it is_ ** _going to be a_ **_big_ ** _problem if she has to drag me around with her!'_

"Then it's settled! Death Knights, you'll be staying at the Inn in the Trade District whilst Alyssana stays in the Mage Quarter. I expect all of you to report to the Stormwind Harbor, first thing in the morning, bright and early so I can personally see you off." he stated clearly.

Me, Thassarian and Edua started making our way to the Inn and I saw Alyssana rush past us, muttering to herself. I couldn't exactly hear what she said but I did catch something along the lines!

_"...if only you were still alive..."_

I have no idea what she meant by that...perhaps she wishes that Illidan was still alive? I couldn't bear thinking about it but I also couldn't help but think that maybe she didn't want to come back here after all? Hopefully, without her using an Arcane Blast on my genitals, I'll have to talk to her at least. We had made our way to the Inn whilst I was thinking about how to have a conversation with Alyssana without it turning into an argument or a fight. Thassarian checked us in, even though the innkeeper didn't seem too happy about and thankfully she had some rooms left free for us. As I got settled into my room, I was reading an old journal I had written in before I died.

"Soulterror? May I have a little chat with you?" Thassarian greeted me and I nodded for him to come into my room. "You've been silent and deep in your thoughts ever since Alyssana arrived. What's on your mind?"

"I overheard her mumbling to herself saying 'if only you were still alive'." I quoted. "I already suspect it could be about Illidan, though! I just want to know why she was saying that out loud."

"Well, it's pretty simple enough although, I could be wrong. Maybe because of what's happening now, she wishes that Illidan was still alive so maybe she would still return to Azeroth, but only to meet with her son." Thassarian suggested, expressing his opinion. "Again, I could be wrong."

"I'm thinking of talking to her but knowing her, she could blast my head off with her Arcane magic!" I scoffed, reciting how when we first met again, Alyssana had used an Arcane Blast spell on my genitals.

"The only thing you can do is apologise to her for what happened earlier today and back at your home." the old death knight chuckled. "It's what a man would do, especially if you still love her. When you talk to her though, have some respect. The woman is pregnant for crying out loud! Stress is not good for a pregnant woman, it raises their blood pressure and it could result in a premature labour too, which is not good for the baby."

With that last word, he walked out of my room and closed the door. I never known about how pregnancy worked but now that I know better, I have to be extra careful not to stress out Alyssana. Another reason for the both of us to try and not kill each other! As I was about to deep dive into my thoughts, my door bursted open with Edua looking like she saw a ghost!

"Did I just hear that you want to talk to Alyssana?!" she blustered.

"Yes, but this time without instigating a fight!" I groaned. "I already had a talk with Thassarian about her and he gave me some knowledge about how pregnancy works. So from now, I'm gonna watch what the hell I say."

Edua stared at me in disbelief for a minute. "Good! That's progress! Progress to not being an asshole to your ex-wife! Alright, I'll see you in the morning, goodnight." she marvelled then she slammed my door shut.

Sometimes I don't know what's going on in her head to be so hot-headed, but I do think she's being like this because she's away from Agronak. When Agronak is around, she's not so suddenly heated with anger because her anger terrifies her Orcish partner. I even started to think that maybe things would be better if I wasn't risen up as a Death Knight because I find myself wanting to bother Alyssana most of the time. It's only because it's been five years since I died and I still can't find the words to tell her how I didn't want any part of the Cult of the Damned after I found out she was pregnant. I still can't explain how I was possessed by the will of the Lich King, that he was the one who made me cheat on her. Yet, I know deep down, she won't accept such a tale! I kept reading in my journal from when I was still alive and a passage in the book caught my eye;

_"I knew that Alyssana was born from a cult that she did not know the name of and from what I've been told, she never knew her birth parents either. She tells me how she wished they would've escaped the cult with her but then she reminds herself that if that happened, she wouldn't have met me. I love her so much! I want to help her find her parents and get the closure she deserves, without her knowing of course."_

I never remembered that! I wanted to help Alyssana find her birth parents? I started to read a little more, a passage from a week later from the previous entry;

_"I've been enlisting some help from Norwell as I've tried to convince King Wrynn about my wife's heritage, but he was too busy swooning over Lady Katrana. I have no idea why he's attracted to her, but I do see his son being concerned for his father. Alyssana still doesn't know about what I've been doing but I'm hoping I'll get the results soon and track down her parents and maybe the cult."_

So Norwell also knew about my keen interest of finding Alyssana's parents! Too bad, he's dead though! I wonder if he made mention of Alyssana's parents to her...did he ever find them after I died? I looked at the clock to my left;

**"11:00 PM"**

_'Pfft, still early for me!'_ I decided to flip through the pages of my journal to maybe find something about the discovery of Alyssana's parents. I realised that I never written the time and date but for some reason, it was only this page that had the date and time! The passage reads;

 _"17th September, year 20._  
 _Norwell had come with information about the cult Alyssana had been born from. As much as it would've been helpful to find her parent's whereabouts or living status, it's better than nothing. The cult Alyssana was born in was called The Shadow Fel Eyes. They thrived on the use Fel magic after the First Horde came to invade Azeroth. Still no word of_ **_how_ ** _Alyssana got out of there but I was able to convince a mage visiting from Dalaran to talk. Apparently, Alyssana had to suppress some sort of magic that was_ **_forbidden_ ** _for use in Dalaran as the Archmages couldn't just kick her out of the city defenceless. So they had a mage raise her as their child and teach her how to suppress the magic and turn it into magic that only a mage would use! I would confront Alyssana about this but I still want to keep it as a surprise. I want to wait until I have precise information about her parents! Alyssana has been feeling a little strange lately, something about her stomach tearing itself apart from the inside. She said she'll find a medicine woman to help her diagnose what could be wrong and I hope it's nothing serious."_

I let out a huge sigh as I realised what her illness was about. The memory came back to me clear as day!

** The memory... **

_"Ludwig! You're home!"_

_"Yes, I'm home my love! Sorry about the hold up, I was busy training some new recruits."_

_"I have the most amazing news!"_

_"What's that, my lovely wife?"_

_"I'm pregnant!"_

** Present day... **

I felt a wetness on my face and I realised I had spilt a few tears, remembering the day she told me she was pregnant. My heart ached a lot more, thinking about the pure joy on her face and I struggled to hold in a pained grunt when I remembered the distraught and heartbreak on her face that horrible night. The night I cheated on her...the night she killed me! I managed to silently gasp at the shock of pain surging deep into my chest, trying not to let the gripping pain on my heart grow worse!

_'This is my karma for what I did. For what I should've done that day! Oh Alyssana, if I could find the words to explain what really happened, I would!'_

** The next morning... **

I couldn't sleep at all! Then again, the dead don't sleep but we usually close our eyes and pretend that we are asleep so nobody bothers us. Funny enough that we don't get tired physically but mental exhaustion is a different story! Speaking of story, I had read through all the pages in my journal and there were no entries of me mentioning my involvement with the Cult of the Damned. I must've been that secretive about it that I couldn't even write about it in my own journal! I got my belongings, along with my runeblade ready to go down to the Harbor, along with Edua and Thassarian and we met up with none other than the mage herself, Alyssana.

"Morning to all!" She greeted us with a smile.

"Pleasant morning, Alyssana!" Edua greeted her back with a beaming smile. "How did you sleep? How's the baby?"

"The baby's fine, still not showing thankfully. Had a good night's sleep though!" Alyssana chuckled then she had a somewhat sort of a smile when she looked at me. "Morning Ludwig, are you alright?"

That caught me off guard but I bounced back! "Morning and y-yeah, I'm feeling f-fine." I replied to her, stuttering. _'This is a little odd. She's being...nice to me?'_

Thassarian nudged my arm with his, beckoning me to talk to Alyssana even further. "Uh hey, Alyssana, I-"

"It's okay, Ludwig, I forgive you for what happened yesterday." she addressed as she interrupted me.

"Thanks, but I-I wanted to have a little ch-chat with you i-i-if you have time." I stuttered again.

_'Dammit, stop stuttering Ludwig! You're not a teenage boy any...oh wait! You were killed when you were 16...fucking dammit!'_

"Alyssana! Death Knights!" A booming voice sounded and we all looked to the direction of it to see King Wrynn himself along with Jaina Proudmoore walking towards us. "A glorious morning to you four! As I mentioned yesterday, you'll be sailing to Valiance Keep in the Borean Tundra as a starting point to your journey in Northrend to take down the forces of the Lich King. You also have to find a way to get into the Icecrown Citadel without being overrun by the Scourge. Until then, safe journey to all of you!"

We all nodded in respect and we made our way onto the ship. We knew we were in for a long trip so I made sure to pack myself a puzzle box I had found back at home as well as a ball maze puzzle. I was always good at problem-solving back, I wasn't too sure about what Alyssana does to entertain herself. I saw her bring out a blank pad along with a quill that had a tube to refill its ink and I started to remember how she manufactured it herself. She was always clever with making these sorts of things that could earn her tons of gold! Yet, she keeps it to herself which I wouldn't blame her for. Who knows if a gnome could take the invention for his or her own! Edua had a kit for knitting which I find boring and Thassarian...his form of self entertainment was brooding like the old death knight he is. He's just like Koltira but slightly weirder and less edgier.

"How long do you think the trip would be?" I deadpanned, my focus being on my ball-in-a-maze puzzle.

"Probably 12 hours or so." Thassarian grunted. "It's going to be a long trip!"

"At least we brought some things to kill time!" Edua chuckled then she turned her attention to Alyssana. "Do you tend to draw a lot?"

"Yeah, it's sort of like self-therapy in a way." she smiled and turned to face me. "You still like your puzzles?"

"It keeps my mind focused." I said to her. "Don't forget about that little chat I wanna have with you, in private."

"Of course I won't forget, just don't piss me off." She scoffed at me.

**6 hours later...**

I honestly never thought it would take this bloody long to get to Northrend! Thassarian wasn't kidding about 12 hours, but we are halfway there and we're practically miles away from the view of the Eastern Kingdoms. To my left, I could see the lands of Kul Tiras and if I'm correct, they pulled away from the Alliance a long time ago because of a tragic incident involving their Lord Admiral. Even in death, I could never remember the name! As I was admiring the view of Kul Tiras, to my right was Alyssana, looking at the same view. She was wearing green and purple patterned vest with purple leggings yet her hooded cloak had the Kaldorei emblem on it with the hood being lined with pure and fluffy black nightsaber fur. As she was looking at the land of Kul Tiras, she had a pitiful look on her face! Maybe she knows what happened?

"Hey, Sana?" I called her nickname to her politely. "Do we know why Kul Tiras stopped supporting the Alliance?"

"Their leader, Daelin Proudmoore was killed by Horde forces because he threatened the peace between them and the Alliance." She explained then she asked me to come closer as she wanted to speak quietly. "Luddy, Daelin is Jaina's father! She did everything she could to create some sort of peace between the Alliance and the Horde and her father was going to tear it all down. So she stepped aside, personally asking for Thrall to take care of it since she couldn't get through to her own father. From what I know, it devastated her! And with that, the Kul Tirans pulled away from the Alliance."

"Poor thing! Then again, how could I feel pity for a land who's leader was about to start a war?" I exclaimed in a low-volume voice. "So about that chat..."

"Yes, you wanted to talk to me about something!" She replied to me in a normal volume. "What is it?"

"I don't know if you can remember, but if I recall, you wanted to know why your parents didn't come with you to Dalaran, right?" I asked her, desperately hoping she remembers what we used to talk about.

"Actually yeah, I do remember saying something like that." She answered me, perplexed. "But I could never find them or the cult that I was born in."

_'Yes! This is it! I need to tell her!'_

"I was going through some things back at home and I found some information that you might find interesting." I implied to her.

I reached in my pocket for the journal page I had ripped out from my book and gave it to Alyssana to read. Her eyes widened immediately!

"Ludwig! You were trying to help me find my parents and the cult I was born in?!" She gasped as she gave me a death glare. "And you had the audacity to keep it from me! As a surprise of all things!"

"I wanted it to be a surprise because I knew how passionate you would get and because I knew for a long time, you've been wanting to find your parents." I fretted. "I thought if I found them for you, you wouldn't have to go to great lengths to find them. However, I think it's obvious that I was the one who went to such lengths. But that doesn't matter, what's important is that now you know that I went through some trouble trying to find them and bring them to you!"

She had a hopeful look in her eyes but it soon faded when she looked away from me. "Now that I think about it...what if they don't care about me?" She sighed with a hint of sadness and fear. "What if they don't want to find me?"

"When you find them, that's when you'll know if they cared about you or not." I stated to her clearly. "I know I'm a death knight but...I have faith that they want to find you and explain everything to you."

A sad smile formed on her face, then she looked back on the ripped journal page "Wait, Norwell was in on this too?" she queried.

"Yeah, he was helping me by gathering information on the Shadow Fel Eyes cult for the names of the members too!" I replied, confirming his involvement. "Too bad he's dead though..."

That's when it clicked in my head! "Wait, you said he died in Outland, right?" I asked Alyssana frantically.

"Yeah, Illidan had him killed!" she answered with a concerned expression.

"And you can teleport to Outland if you wanted to, right?" I asked her again.

"Yes, where are you getting at?" she countered.

"Alyssana, don't you realise it?! As a death knight, I have ways to commune with the dead!" I blustered due to her cluelessness. "So if we went to Outland at the Black Temple where Norwell died..."

"You can ask if he knows about my parents!" she affirmed with a that hopeful smile again. "Ludwig, you're a genius! But there's one more thing..."

"W-wha-what is it?" I stuttered, feeling as if I was on my toes ready to run.

"I don't know what Illidan's goons did to the body..." Alyssana gulped with a nervous tone in her voice. "I wasn't there when they disposed of it..."

"Oh, for the hate of the Lich King, are you fucking kidding me-wait!" I fumed until something clicked again. "Hold on, since you're soulbound to Illidan, you can talk to him, right?"

"Ugh, yes but even he wouldn't know what happened to the body!" the mage exasperated with a huff.

"God dammit!!!" I boomed, banging my fists on the railing of the ship.

A sailor was about to come up to me to ask what was wrong but Alyssana turned him away, telling him I was fine! 

I think it was the first time she ever saw me get angry since she had a fearful look on her face, so I eased her fear. "Sorry..." I apologised. "...I was just so close to finding out who your parents are and where they are...but Norwell's dead and thanks to your demonic lover, we don't know what happened to the body."

"Luddy..." Alyssana softly said to me as she put a hand on my armoured right shoulder. "...we can always look for his body within and outside of the Black Temple. Besides, once we get there, I have a score to settle with Akama and those who follow him."

"You do?" I chuckled, knowing that for as long as I had known Alyssana, it was rare for her to want some sort of revenge.

Yet, I was glad that I could see a fire in her eyes as they flashed a Fel green! Again, Akama must've had a part to play in Illidan's death and Alyssana wants to settle a score with him, but how?

"And Maiev Shadowsong, too." she growled with a slight demonic echo in her voice. "She landed the final blow to Illidan, killing him. She also tried to kill me **knowing** that I am pregnant!"

I sighed through my nose with a growl, almost like Edua did back at Stormwind when Velen spoke to her and I scowled at the thought of someone killing a pregnant woman, **especially** if they know she's pregnant!

"Do you know where she is?" I asked Alyssana, seething and grinding my teeth.

"No." she answered, her voice now sounding more demonic with a loathsome tone. "But when I meet her on the battlefield, I'm not afraid to let her taste my blades deep into her dirty flesh and I will make her feel my pain and my wrath as I avenge Illidan!"

I laughed at this, only because I've never seen Alyssana have so much passion to kill somebody. "I want to be there for when it happens!" I chorused playfully.

Then she looked at me with a confused look on her face, the Fel in her eyes still gleaming prominently. "Why?" she asked me, her voice going back to normal.

"Because I want to kill her too!" I giggled with glee. "And because since I still care about you and now that you told me how she was going to kill you, regardless of you being pregnant, I want some of that! I want in on your revenge!"

For the first time, in a long after I've been risen, I finally got to see Alyssana laugh! "As long as I can land the killing blow, we're good!"

We both laughed outrageously like two hyenas until I looked towards the north and I suddenly had a chill! I may be dead but there are some things I can still feel and the chill that ran down my spine is just an example. I saw the tower of the Icecrown Citadel come into view and I knew that we were close to arriving!

"Shit!" I muttered, motioning for Alyssana to look behind. 

"If that tower is in view, then it looks like we're almost at Valiance Keep." she acknowledged, looking ahead and then she turned back to face me and started walking towards Edua and Thassarian whilst I followed closely behind. "We're just a few hours away so we better get our things together and once we get to that harbor, we check in with the Innkeeper and we head out first thing in the morning!"

_'Aww man, I have to get up early again?!"_

"Yes ma'am!" Edua and Thassarian agreed, speaking at the same time. 

I never thought of Alyssana as the leader type, but being dead for 5 years, it is clear a lot has changed within my ex wife. From a bubbly and kind-hearted woman to now a woman scorned and wise and ready for battle at any given time...


	11. Her Love For Him is Undying (Alyssana's P.O.V)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ludwig still doesn't understand how Alyssana will never go back to him after Illidan had died, yet he still thinks he can break the bond between the both of them, regardless of their soulbind.   
> Alyssana is also struggling to prove him wrong about his delusional thinking as he is as stubborn as a mule.

Once we boarded the harbor at Valiance Keep, we immediately made our way to the Inn to check ourselves in. We had our hearthstones at the ready to be enchanted so whenever we use them, we'd return here. I thankfully had my own room and I couldn't help but think back to me and Ludwig's conversation about finding my parents. The Shadow Fel Eyes cult, I've never heard of them but then again, I've never been told of them. If I knew of it earlier while I was still in Dalaran, I would've asked around the city if anyone's heard of the cult, the name at the very least! I sighed with helplessness, looking out the window of my room, seeing the blue skies, the ocean and various glaciers of ice. I've never been here in Northrend before and I've never seen snow either so a part of me was giddy that for the first time, I'm in a place full of snow and ice. I heard footsteps coming up behind me to see Edua with a warm smile handing me a small cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows.

"It's cold here so I thought you might want something that could help keep you warm." she hummed.

"Thank you, Edua!" I thanked her. "I really appreciate that you're looking out for me, especially since Ludwig still loves me."

"I've been trying to get through his head about that!" the undead Draenei huffed. "I keep telling him 'forget about her, her heart's with another man who treats her like a queen.' but nope, he has the gall to keep pursuing you no matter what! If he makes one move on you, deflect it! If he keeps going, set his nut sack on fire! And don't worry I won't report how you treat him to Darion, I'm dead. I couldn't give two shits about that little twerp."

"Geez, you're such a savage but I love it!" I laughed before taking a sip of my cocoa. "But he's your friend, right?"

"Yes, he is! But ever since you came to Light's Hope, he hasn't been the same. I'm not complaining but he was more calm and collected when he didn't know a single thing about his past." she disclosed to me with a sad sigh. "He'll never tell you this and he'll always do his best to not show it but deep down, Alyssana, he's suffering from what happened between the both of you. He's still suffering from the fact that he hurt you and that you killed him for it."

I ate a marshmallow before I spoke again. "As much as I would like to care about him in the same way he cares about me, I can't bring myself to do it!" I shivered, not from the cold but from trying to hold back the pain that had been renewed when Edua mentioned Ludwig's suffering. "Like you said, he hurt me and he's suffering for it, but I'm glad he is. Call me cold-hearted, but he deserves it! He deserves to relive that memory of when he hurt me over and over again and I don't care how long he'll have to endure that kind of torture until it makes him numb or go insane knowing that he'll never get me back! He can dream on is all I have to say. I gave him all the love I could give to him, I married him and I even bore his child and **still** , on the day I told him I was pregnant with Marenus, he had the audacity to cheat on me! So yes, it's fair that he's tormented by what he did and nothing he can say can change that!"

The tears started to flow but not in sadness or in grief, but in anger! I know it was 5 years ago, but even I can't ever forget what he did to me.

I shook my head, blinking away my tears and Edua rubbed my back, nodding in understanding. "I don't blame you for feeling that way. It seems like the both of you are hurting and it's you that's more affected because of his actions and it's what lead you to be like this. But the one thing you can take from this is that you ended up with somebody **so much better** in every way! And I'm glad that you and Illidan found each other within your love for power."

It is true that I had an affinity for gaining power but it was never my priority for the last 5 years. I liked the idea of being the most powerful being on Azeroth but yet again, I knew that being the most powerful has a lot of consequences and it comes with an enormous responsibility! Everybody would be counting on me to be the last line of defence, but what if it's not enough? What if I fail to protect not only my loved ones but also fail to protect Azeroth as a whole? I'm not planning to become the Guardian of Azeroth because, well, look what happened to Aegwynn, the mother of Medivh! She faced the avatar of the powerful titan Sargeras and he infused his spirit within her, manipulating her every move. When she had Medivh, he was corrupted from the very moment he was conceived and as a mother, that's frightening to think about! I shuddered at the thought and I yawned sleepily which motioned for Edua to start heading for her room. I waved farewell to her as I finished my cocoa and I went to my room to settle myself in for the night. At my night stand, I found a small note, written in Ludwig's handwriting;

_'Just thought I'd write this to let you know of our plan to take down the Lich King and his forces. First off, Thassarian is thinking of heading off on his own and I tried to convince him otherwise but he didn't like the idea of hanging around you and me. Edua on the other hand, in the morning I'll tell her about what I know about your parents and the cult you were born in and how I was trying to find them and I still want to find them now. I might even ask her to come along with us to The Black Temple in Outland so we have a better chance of getting through Akama's forces without much difficulty. Get all the sleep you need, we have a big day tomorrow._   
_Lt. Soulterror'_

After reading the note, I scrunched it up and burnt it with my fire magic then using my Arcane magic, I clicked my fingers and I was instantly changed into my sleepwear! I was wearing an emerald green silk dress that was as light as a feather and it had a V-neck so my cleavage was easy to see. I'm slightly hoping that when I sleep, I'll be able to talk to Illidan again since earlier today, we had a little "fun" back at Solitude Lookout. But he also said he'd wait for tonight to have more "fun" in person and I doubt that'll ever happen because I'm with a group of death knights on a mission in Northrend and my ex-husband happens to be one of those death knights. I mean, I wouldn't mind screaming Illidan's name in the middle of the night just to piss off Ludwig because I'm petty like that, yet I don't want any complaints from my associates. Looking into a nearby mirror, I tied my hair back on the low end to prevent my hair from getting messy when I'm sleeping and I suddenly heard Illidan's voice whispering to me in my ear.

_"My love, why do you need to tie your hair back when I can just pull on it?"_

That very sentence sent chills up and down my spine which insanely turned me on. I looked in the mirror again and I saw Illidan's shade had manifested in a physical form, but this time it looked different! He didn't have his hooves, horns and wings but he still kept his tattoos that I've traced with my finger and tongue a thousand times because I can get nasty like that. He still had his blindfold as well as his claws that had left scars upon my body whenever we made rough and raunchy love.

Knowing he wanted an answer back, I had to whisper as well. "Well, maybe if you'd go down on me fully while back at the Lookout, maybe then you'd have a chance at pulling my hair back when you're slamming into me from behind."

With a growl, he wrapped his hand around my throat and pulled me closer to him. "I can still do that, you'll just have to be as quiet as mouse." He purred closely in my ear.

"Ohh fuck..." I mouthed, feeling his other hand travel up my waist to grab my right breast and squeezed it lightly.

"I could just nail you right here if you wanted me to." Illidan purred again in my ear, this time I feel his lips on my ear and it sent insane sensations and throughout my body.

Just before I was about to agree with Illidan, there was knocking on door, followed by an annoying and familiar voice. "Alyssana! Are you still awake? There's something I need to speak with you about, immediately."

"Shit, it's Ludwig!" I quietly panicked to Illidan who had an annoyed expression on his face.

He let go of my breast and and he was about to walk over to the door to open it. "Wait don't-"

"She's a little busy right now, Ludwig." he simply said with a straight face, not worrying about if Ludwig might bust in through the door from the other side.

"Illidan? How'd you get here?" I heard Ludwig growl from the door. "I need to speak with my ex-wife, it's important!"

"That doesn't matter right now!" Illidan growled back as I was just standing still, panicking about the possibility of him and Ludwig getting into a fight. "Why don't you go back to your room while me and my mate, who happens to be your ex-wife, get a little busy?"

'Oh no, he's going to start some shit isn't he? Please Ludwig, just listen to him and go away!'

"How do I know that she's not awake and you're just having your way with her while she sleeps?" Ludwig dared.

That's when I knew he crossed the line and I had to step in to make sure both him and Illidan don't get into a fight. "Ludwig, I am awake! Right now is not a good time so please, leave whatever you want to say to me in the morning and give us our privacy please."

There was no answer other than an aggravated sigh and footsteps stomping away from the door and a door slamming shut.

"I don't get how you're able to get somebody to shut up by using your words other than using violent actions." Illidan commented, looking at me confused. "How do you do that?!"

"That's just my natural talent, darling!" I giggled with a wink, then I grabbed the back of his head and pulled him down to my face. "Now where were we?"

He then grabbed my neck and lightly squeezed it as he growled with a smile. "Get on all fours, you dirty little slut."

"On the floor or on the bed?" I whispered with a playful smile.

He came closer to my ear. "I don't care where, I want you now!" He growled again, this time in his demonic voice.

**_1 hour later..._ **

"Oww!" I whimpered, almost on the verge of tears. "We gotta do something about those fangs!"

Me and Illidan did end up doing the dirty, but somebody had to bite into my bottom lip and pierce it!

"Sorry, sorry! I'll fix it, babygirl, it's okay!" Illidan chuckled nervously as he used healing magic on my lip. "I fix, I fix! Oof, that's gonna leave a scar!"

"I am my scars." I chuckled, earning a smile from Illidan.

"That's my girl." He cooed at me.

After Illidan was done healing my lip which now has a scar, I lightly touched his hand in an adoring way and I looked deep into his eyes. Although he had a sense of worry in his facial expression, he still smiled at me lovingly, brushing my cheek with his left thumb. I felt my heartbeat start to race as I drew closer to his face, enticed by his purple lips. Even though my bottom lip hurt from his passionate kiss from when we had sex, I still went in for the comfort of his kiss and his warm embrace. He groaned with content as it happened, leaning into my face and making me lie down on my back and he laid on top of me, blanketing my body with his tough, toned and muscled build of a body. He was a bit hesitant, trying to not pierce my lips with his fangs again so his smooches were more gentle and softer. He slightly pulled away for air and his eyes glowed brighter as he looked into mine. I traced his jawline softly, almost tickling him as he tried to hold in a giggle and I booped his nose, earning a relaxed hum from him.

"I love you, so much." He said to me softly with a swoon in his vocal tone. "I'm so glad I took you in as my apprentice and I'm very happy that I fell so deeply in love with you. When we got the chance to talk to each other about our personal lives, we just clicked instantly! Mentioning how the ones we loved before treated us like dirt, how we set off to find our own destinies, that's what made us click! But the most important thing of all is that you saw my flaws and still, you are willing to stick with me no matter what as I have done with you, even though we've fought every now and then."

"That's what people in a relationship do, Illidan." I hummed. "They get into fights, even over the little things. But what matters too is that we find ways to get over an argument as soon as it's done and we make up for that. If two people really love each other, they will fight for one another, no matter the cost."

Illidan smiled at me adoringly and I could've sworn that I saw a wet patch on his blindfold where the eyes would be! As soon as he gave me a kiss on the forehead, Illidan got off of me and made sure I was comfortable in bed and that I was wrapped up in the blanket I had brought with me. He looked at me lovingly, rubbing my belly softly with his right hand and stroking my cheek with his left hand as I felt my eyelids become a little heavy, then he lent over to kiss me again and nuzzled my nose with his.

"Goodnight, dalah'surfas and goodnight to you, my little spawn." He whispered to me and uncovered my belly from the blanket to give my belly small little kisses that tickled me.

After giving me a loving kiss on my lips, Illidan's physical form faded away and I felt a sudden emptiness, although it's how I've been feeling of late, any time his manifestation fades back into the Twisting Nether. It got very cold in the room, then again I am in Northrend, the coldest of continents on Azeroth! I felt a slight movement within my womb and I realised it was the baby moving around a little. With a chuckle, I traced circles around my belly button, as if to let the baby know that I acknowledge its movement.

"We're going to be fine." I whispered to it. "We'll get through this, just you and me. Daddy won't be here for when you arrive, but he'll know that you've come to this world and know that both me and Daddy love you so much. I can't wait to meet you! Goodnight, my little soul fire."

**_The next morning..._ **

I had to rush to a nearby latrine to vomit into after I woke up this morning. Edua was thankfully awake and she assisted me in my morning sickness recovery. She had me sit at a nearby table so I could rest for a while.

"You know I forgot about how with pregnancy comes the morning sickness?" I nervously chuckled, then I groaned in pain from the headache that I had when I was puking. "Sometimes I wonder, why did I let Illidan do this to me?"

Edua laughed at my last comment as she was pouring a cup of ginger tea for my nausea. "Well, when you're in love, you forget about what may come next. Here's your tea, darling! As soon as you are well, we will get moving okay?" she beamed as she handed me the tea, then her smile disappeared when Ludwig walked up to the both of us. "You better not make any moves on a sick woman! Otherwise you're the one who's sick!"

"I wasn't gonna do anything, I was just going to make sure she's okay!" he defended with a confused expression.

"Ludwig, if I can get through a pregnancy without you, I can get through morning sickness without you, too." I scoffed at him after sipping my tea.

My ex-husband of a death knight just rolled his eyes and sat on the chair across from me. "So Illidan was with you last night."

"Yeah and?" I sassed him, looking him straight in his dead eyes.

"Does he come to see you every time you're alone?" He asked me.

"Yeah and ever since I discovered how to get him to manifest, he's been popping in the physical world lately." I answered him, sipping my ginger tea which was now half-empty. "Although, as much as it drains my magic for a while, it does have an extreme positive though!"

"Like what? Illidan primal ball slapping the fuck out of you last night?" He jeered at me, leaning back on his chair.

I could've choked on my tea, but all I did was death stare him down until I realised something. "Now why would you mention that if we were being quiet all throughout our session?"

Ludwig just shrugged his shoulders and looked away.

"You son of a cunt! You've been eavesdropping on me and Illidan doing the nasty, didn't you?!" I called him out. "You fucking perverted little shit!!!"

"What's going on here?!" Edua yelled, running over to me and Ludwig who had a straight face the whole time I was screaming at him.

"Long story short; With Illidan being soul bound to me, he's able to physically manifest himself in this world which gives him the ability to do normal physical things, like having sex with me." I explained to Edua then I pointed at Ludwig with the middle finger. "This fucking asshole was listening to me and Illidan getting down and dirty last night and we were trying to be quiet the whole time!"

With that, Edua grabbed Ludwig by his ponytail and roughly tugged on it, making him cry out in pain. "What in the Lich King is wrong with you?!"

"Alright, you bloody trio, enough of your bickering!" Thassarian boomed, walking towards us looking annoyed. "I'll be going on ahead while you three take down the Lich King's forces on your own pace and accord! I have some personal business to deal with."

"Are you sure don't want any of us to accompany you, Thassarian?" I politely asked him.

"No, it's fine, Alyssana. Thank you for the offer but I'm sure you'll understand when I say it's personal." He replied with a slight smile, as if he was thankful for my kind question. "You already have a lot on your plate to attend to, including a walking pain in the ass to deal with!"

"Hey! That was uncalled for!" Ludwig scoffed at Thassarian.

I cackled at Ludwig's reaction to when Thassarian called him out and so did Edua, since we both agree about Ludwig's recent behaviour towards me. It was then I recognised a side of Ludwig that I have seen before but never really paid much attention to. He hated getting called out for his littlest mistakes! As much as I would hate it too, I think it's important for Ludwig to be reminded of what he had done for him to get burned to death by me. As soon as Thassarian left, Ludwig did too, going downstairs to probably the area where they serve alcohol. I remembered that he had an affinity for it and I also remember the nights when he came home drunk. And whenever I was "in the mood" and he was drunk off his face, he would last longer than he was when he was sober, but he would also perform terribly! However, even when he's not wasted, from my experience so far, Ludwig really was excruciatingly terrible at giving pleasure. I wouldn't dare compare Illidan to Ludwig in terms of sexual performance but Illidan takes the golden trophy for outstanding execution! When I started feeling the effects of nausea start to subside, I walked to my room, looked in the mirror and changed into my robes that I wore back when I was about to raid the Black Temple. I wore a purple robe with white and lilac purple patterns which also had the Kirin Tor symbol on both of the upper arms of the sleeves. My shoulder pauldrons had spires that had the tip shaped like an upside down crescent moon and whenever I was ready for battle, small spheres of Arcane magic would appear in the middle of the crescents. My shoes were flats with lacing that went up to beneath my knees and although the shoes were purple, the lacing was emerald green. I donned the hearthstone that Illidan had given me on the day he fell at the summit at the Black Temple and when I sighed heavily, due to the recurring memory of his death still fresh in my mind, I caught a glimpse of Illidan's transparent shade hugging me from behind and nuzzling his left cheek into my right cheek.

_"Even in death, our love will go on."_ his whispers echoed. _"Our love is forever."_

"Even in death, I will stay committed to you and only you." I vowed, smiling at him and he smiled back with a lovestruck look in his eyes. "My heart and my soul belong to you."

As soon as his shade shimmered away, the ring he had given me when he proposed started to sparkle! I shed a tear, feeling a fuzzy warmth within my chest as if I fell in love with Illidan all over again. I was about to start daydreaming about what life would be like with him when I realised that if I did, I'd end up becoming depressed again. Snapping myself out of my personal thoughts, my mind returned to reality and I packed my things and made my way downstairs. Edua was waiting for me, but Ludwig was nowhere to be seen!

"Hey, where'd Ludwig go?" I asked her in confusion. "Did he have a hissy fit or did he get drunk and decide to go out on his own?"

"The first one." Edua sighed with annoyance. "But he'll be back. Again, he's still trying to get over the fact that-"

"That I'm not in love with him anymore and that I'm with Illidan and I'm pregnant with his child." I finished her sentence sarcastically. "Yes, I know the dumbass of a death knight isn't over me but he'll have to get over me eventually. He can't keep this going on any longer."

"Tell me about it! Too bad you're pregnant though, I would've asked if you'd want a drink." Edua chuckled.

"As much as I want to, I can't drink during pregnancy but I get what you mean." I cracked up.

A nearby citizen looked over to me and gave me a thumbs up. "Hey congrats on your pregnancy!"

"Thank you!" I thanked the stranger.

"What brings you here to Northrend, milady?" He asked me with a smile.

"I'm on a mission to take down the Lich King's forces until the time comes to take him down himself." I replied with confidence.

"All while you're pregnant?" He worried. "Usually, a woman who's pregnant would stay home until she gives birth."

"I've been able to take down the Horde's lackeys whilst I was pregnant with my first child and the pregnancy didn't phase me back then." I laughed. "I'm pretty sure I can take down the Scourge as well so there's no need for worry."

"Where's your husband then? Shouldn't he be looking after you?" Another stranger shouted, a woman this time.

Before I could answer her, Edua stepped in front of me looking intimidating. "I think that's enough questions now!" Edua growled then she turned to me. "Come on, we need to find Ludwig and get moving."

I nodded in agreement and we decided to venture around Valiance Keep for a while. You could smell the saltiness of the sea thanks to the cold breeze in the air. Thankfully, the cape I was wearing had a fluffy hood for me to put over my head so I wouldn't worry about getting a head cold. It seemed like the Keep was still in construction as there were some walls that hadn't been fully developed yet. I even saw a ship that's been docked as if it needed repairs. The reason why we were looking around in the Keep was to find out where Ludwig had run off to after I screamed at him for being an eavesdropper on me and Illidan. Honestly, I'm trying to get him to see that we **can** be friends but nothing more and still, the fucking idiot thinks he can win me over. Well I'm pretty sure he hasn't noticed by now that;

1: I'm 5 years older than him, literally since I killed him five years ago.  
2: I stopped giving a shit about him when he cheated on me, even after he was risen as a death knight.  
And 3: If I was able to get through a pregnancy without him, I can do it again!

But, I am willing to try and form a **friendship** with him and if he keeps messing up every single time I have an interaction with him, then there's no hope of being friends with him without him flirting with me all the time. We had one good interaction yesterday, but last night and just today, he messed up! I'll have to keep my guard up for in case he does it again, but right now, me and Edua have the unfortunate job of finding him. Still, I pray to the Light that he will finally come to the realisation that I no longer have any love for him...


	12. His Part in the King's Grand Design (Ludwig's P.O.V)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting called out for being disrespectful, Ludwig takes out his anger on savage yet unrelenting undead. As he comes down from his tantrum, he hears the whispers of the Lich King once again...only to discover the truth about his past and Arthas' true intentions for him! While trying to process the revealed truth, Ludwig aids Alyssana in finding out about her true parentage and the cult where she was unwillingly fed Fel energy as a new-born. To do so, they must go back to Outland!

**SWISH!**

**SPLAT!**

**SLICE!**

**GUSSSSHHHHH!**

**SHANK!**

**SPLOOSH!**

I was out in the open of Farshire Fields, slicing, dicing and chopping up hordes of undead with a fiery anger in my dead soul, my blade becoming covered in coagulated undead blood! Last night, I was meant to tell Alyssana about my apparent possession on the fateful night she killed me. I wanted to tell her about how I was possessed, but that bloody spirit of a demon hunter got in the way and since my room was next to Alyssana's, I could hear them going at it, even if they were meaning to keep it quiet. It's not my fault that my bed was next to the bloody wall and I could hear everything that they were doing! I went back to the farm stead to ride my undead steed, Enmity that was waiting for me. Thankfully, he's a calm and faithful steed who doesn't have any intentions of hurting anyone and one of the living at the stead was kind to him. As I got myself settled on the saddle to ride back to Valiance Keep, I suddenly felt light-headed! I stopped Enmity and I stumbled off him, struggling to stay on my feet. As I was brought to my knees, I heard the **voice**...

_"You were unwise to come back here. Now my plans are coming to fruition!"_

I started to gasp for air as if I had working lungs and I immediately blacked out next to Enmity.

**_..._ **

I found myself in an icy wasteland. For the first time as an undead, I could feel the cold, I could smell the foul stench of death in the air and it was almost too dark to see! The sound of a loud and howling blizzard smothered my hearing, overwhelming my eardrums until I heard that **voice** again and it sounded as if it was close by!

_"My knights of darkness are reborn to be the strongest, but you...you are the weak link among them!"_

I wanted to respond, but my throat suddenly felt dry and my vocal chords became constricted. However, I was able to struggle out a sentence! "Sh-sh-show y-your...self!"

I heard the voice cackle with evil and a figure came into being! Even being an undead, I felt my nerves tremble with fear all over my body, my teeth started to chatter due to not the cold, but pure terror! The Lich King was in my presence, his cursed blade Frostmourne, humming with dark energy and those piercing and glowing blue eyes that could gaze at your very soul, stunned me in place.

"Soulterror...when you joined the Cult of the Damned, I had faith that you would be my greatest servant." his husky voice thundered. "Instead, the memory I had wiped out from the moment you were reborn had come back after that broad called out your true name!"

My vocal chords suddenly became free from that constricting grasp and I coughed as I was harshly clearing my throat to speak. "She is not a broad! She never was!" I coarsely shouted. "Why did you erase my memory? Why wasn't I allowed know who I truly was?"

"When you made her your wife, you being infatuated with her ruined my plans for you to be by my side as my greatest warrior!" the king argued. "So my solution was to take over your weak-willed mind and take control from there. Which of course lead to your 'affair' and your death. When I raised you into undeath, wiping your memory of your identity and your memories of her was necessary for you to come one step closer to being a death knight worthy of serving me! When you met her again, my plans were ruined once more!"

I tried to draw out my sword to strike this manifestation of the Lich King down, but I went right through him! His evil cackle tormented me and I went to strike at him again but this time, he lifted up his armored left hand and my action came to a standstill! I couldn't move at all! He had some kind of invisible hold on my body to make me stop attacking him and I was abruptly brought to my knees. The Lich King put away his left hand and walked closer to me until he was merely inches away from me!

"Your pathetic emotions may have disrupted my plans for you, but now...I have an even better method to my problem." He chuckled, slitting his eyes as if he were to smile wickedly at me. "I know of your desire to break off Illidan's soulbind with your beloved and how you wish she was yours again. Don't you know that you have the power to break their bind?"

"No!" I barked at him. "I will not do so on your-"

Before I could speak any further, the Lich King grabbed me by the throat and held me up in the air to his eye level and squeezed tightly. "You have two choices here. Either you follow my orders again and lead Alyssana to her death or...when you least expect it, I will take over your weak-willed body like the despicable puppet you are and take your revenge for you."

I couldn't scream out in fear but with a hidden blade, I was somehow able to free myself from his grasp! "Fuck you and your orders, Arthas! I may still be in love with Alyssana but I will not break off her bond with Illidan just for your own pleasure and neither will I let **you** take control of me again!"

All Arthas could do was laugh in my face. "Your feelings for Alyssana are strong, boy, you can't deny it! You think you're the only one who thought about their loved one even in death? No, but have it your way then." He mocked, walking towards me and making me walk backwards until I came to an edge of a cliff. "However, when the time comes, your soul and your mind will no longer be yours to control. You will be **powerles** **s** against me!!!"

With that last word, Arthas pushed me off the cliff and as I fell into the darkness, I blacked out again, feeling pure fear swallow me whole...

**_..._ **

I gasped for air as if I had been underwater for too long! I looked around to see Enmity, Edua and Alyssana looking at me as if they were freaking out.

"Are you okay, Luddy?" Alyssana asked me with concern.

I looked at her and I knew that she was genuinely worried about my well-being and I nodded at her, letting her know I was okay. "Yeah, I'm fine now. That was weird!"

"You just fainted out of nowhere??" Edua scoffed with an amused smile.

"No but I'll tell you, Edua about it later." I chuckled as I stood back up on my feet, dusting myself off and assuring Enmity that I was in good health. "I think it's time we find out about your parents, Alyssana. I promised you that yesterday."

"Yes, you did." She agreed. "I'll open a portal to The Black Temple and I'll make sure we're in a safe place too."

Me and Edua both nodded in agreement and as we waited for Alyssana to prepare a portal, I had to surprisingly take deep breaths as the small vision I had when I was blacked out had me anxious about what could be coming at any moment. Edua was obviously worried about me as she kept patting my back gently, helping me calm down. As soon as the portal opened, we all stepped through and we ended up in a living room area! I looked around and it looked to be in care but there was no one around. Alyssana, knowing the place, immediately opened a door to a room which looked like a normal bedroom but combined with a study and her personal bathing room as well. Illidan must've decked out this room for Alyssana to be comfortable here and he did one heck of a good job! Alyssana was frantically looking around her room as if she had forgotten something here when she came back to Azeroth.

Curious, I asked her about what she could be looking for as if to unburden her. "Did you leave something here? Do you need some help?" I coaxed her.

"Yes, but I can find it on my own! Thank you though!" she acknowledged with a light smile.

She looked through the drawers on her vanity and used her magic to shut them all in frustration. She looked at the nearby bookcase and looked through every book, picking out a few of them as if they were more important than the rest of the books that were there collecting dust. Edua was making sure that nobody came to the living area to attack us unexpectedly if we were found. Alyssana let out a sigh of relief after packing a small sack with some of the books from the bookshelf and she was holding a small heart-shaped picture frame in her left hand. She was smiling at it although, her eyes looked as if they were about to become watery. I looked at the frame and there was a picture of her and Illidan laughing.

_'He really did make her happy here...'_

"You two look adorable." I commented, making Alyssana turn to me in surprise but she smiled regardless. "He really does love you."

"I had to crack a few jokes for him to laugh." she jested with a bigger smile that showed the dimples in her cheeks. "Although, I hated that they all had to be dirty jokes."

"Really?" I chortled, trying to hold in a laugh. "Tell me what they were!"

"No, they're horrible!" she giggled. "Alright alright, here! First joke I told him; If your horns are **that** huge, does that mean you're **that** horny?"

I tried so hard to hold in a laugh but all I could so was snort so much that I had mucus coming out of my nose. "Bad joke, but keep going!"

"Hold on, wait! Okay here's the one that made him crack!" the mage giggled. "You see, he told me that he was so happy to be with me because at every opportunity, he'd tell me that he loves me and how happy I make him. So I said this; 'Oh, **you're** the only one that's happy to see me?" and then I looked down at his crotch and that's when he lost it!"

I cracked up laughing at her stupid joke then Edua bursted in the room, quietly telling us to shut up as she thought she heard someone outside! Alyssana crammed her photo frame in her bag and I heard her growl like a demon under her breath. I followed closely behind her just in case she goes into demon hunter mode. I know she's not a full-on demon hunter but when she activates her Fel magic and brings out her warglaives, I think it's safe to say that she is technically a demon hunter, thanks to Illidan of course. I readied my blade as well for if any intruders were to come into the area and once the door busted open, a wounded female blood elf with primped silver white hair, curly brown horns that pointed outward, golden hooped earrings, wearing a fancy-looking blindfold that subtly covered her Fel green eyes along with her clothing being a mix of red, brown and black, fell to her knees on the floor, collapsing due to exhaustion!

"Faralana!!!" Alyssana exclaimed in shock and she ran over to the blood elf's unconscious body and tried to find signs of life. "Fara!! Speak to me! What happened? Wake up!"

Edua and I ran over as well, trying to help Alyssana with the recovery of this blood elf named Faralana. Then, Alyssana grabbed a vial that had red liquid contained within and grabbed a dropper. She absorbed some liquid from vial she opened with the dropper and opened Faralana's mouth to release a few drops down her throat. It only took about 10 seconds for the blood elf to awaken with a gasp and she looked at Alyssana and smiled with relief.

"Alyssana! Thank Illidan, you're alive!!!" She blurted out, hugging the mage tightly.

"I saw you fall when I was conjuring the portal!" The mage exclaimed. "What the fuck happened after I left?"

"When I came to, one of Maiev's wardens was in the middle of putting me in a crystal, so I escaped." Faralana began to explain. "But I barely made it! Maiev almost caught me a few times and this time, I was almost caught by Akama and his allies. hence the wounds."

It was then I saw a fire burn within Alyssana's eyes! "Where is she? Where's Akama? They will pay for what they did to Illidan!" She snarled.

I had to interrupt her because she was starting to stray away from our current objective. "Uh, hello?! We were meant to be finding Norwell's body so I can talk to his spirit! Does that ring a bell?" I talked over Alyssana who gave me a mean look.

"Who's this asshole?" The blood elf scoffed, pointing at me with her thumb as she was facing Alyssana.

Alyssana simply rolled her eyes at me with a smirk. "That's my ex-husband. I'll tell you more later, but we have to find Norwell's body because he has information on my parentage and about the cult I was born in. Do you remember where the body was dumped?" She answered the blood elf, also asking her a question.

"Yeah, me and Camlan were instructed by Illidan to get rid of the body." Faralana replied. "I can help you recover the body but after that, I must go back to Azeroth. Somewhere, Maiev has a vault where she keeps all the demon hunters all locked within a crystallised prison. If I can break in somehow, I can free our friends and any demon hunter I can get a hold of!"

Alyssana seemed as if she was going to say something but then her expression turned into one of sadness.

Faralana put a hand on Alyssana's right upper arm and tilted her head. "What's wrong, Aly?"

"I just miss Illidan, that's all." She shuddered. "When I watched him die, Fara, I lost control of my Fel magic and I just...like I said before, I'll tell you everything when we get the chance but right now, I need to find my parents. So let's go!"

Fara nodded and looked back at me and Edua and gave us a weird look. "So...you're with her?" She asked us.

"We're her bodyguards." Edua spoke up. "Should we expect any danger after you told us of your prison break?"

"Just keep two eyes out for anyone threatening our safety." Faralana commanded. "If I can recall, we dumped the body in the sewers."

"Ugh, we have to go there?!" Alyssana exclaimed with disgust. "That's so gross! Are you sure you need **me** to go down there with you?"

"You're a mage aren't you?" Faralana countered. "Just whip up a spell to prevent us from smelling bad odours!"

I snickered at this as Alyssana rolled her eyes and we all starting following Faralana's lead into the sewers. This was my chance to talk to Edua but I had to keep my voice low as I don't want Alyssana being involved.

"Hey Edua! Remember back at Northrend when I had that blackout?" I asked her, trying to keep my voice low.

"Yes, of course I remember." She replied with the same volume. "What happened?"

"You know how back then, we took orders from the Lich King because we kept hearing his voice in our heads?" I mentioned to her.

"Well I know that we broke free from his whispers since we learned of his true intentions!" Edua whispered to me with a harsh tone. "He sent us to Light's Hope to die! What has he got to do with you fainting back at Northrend?"

"That's the thing." I shuddered, keeping my voice at a low volume. " **He** made me faint! He even told me how he controlled my mind when I was **still alive** and made me have an affair with another woman on **the night I died**! The night when Alyssana killed me!"

Then, Alyssana stopped and turned to me. "Did you say something, Luddy?" She asked with a weird look.

"N-no! I didn't say anything!" I replied with a slight stutter.

She nodded her head and kept moving towards the sewers. We were close by the entrance so Faralana ordered for me and Edua to keep watch for any enemies that may come to harm her and Alyssana whilst they searched through the sewers for Norwell's body.

Once Faralana and Alyssana were out of sight, I was able to talk to Edua in a normal volume. "He also told me why he wiped out my memory of my identity and my memories of Alyssana but when she came back, obviously her presence restored my memories. But now he has a new plan! Apparently, he's planning to kill Alyssana by using me as his **puppet** and I have no idea how or when he'll do it, but I need your help to stop it if it ever happens!"

Edua looked at me with a worried expression then she closed her eyes and breathed in and out and looked at me. "Ludwig, the reason why I'm going to say that I believe you is because you are a good friend and that I genuinely believe that you didn't mean to hurt Alyssana." the undead Draenei counselled me. "But the question is; if you're going to tell her about your possession on that fateful night, how will she take it?"

"More like; **Will she believe me**?" I muttered, thinking about what the consequences would be like if I told Alyssana about what **really** happened.


	13. Her Cultist Heritage (Alyssana's P.O.V)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alyssana and Faralana had gone deep down in the sewers to find the body of Norwell to look for answers about Alyssana's parentage and the about the cult she was born in.

When we got to the sewers, not only was it rank with a horrible stench but there bodies everywhere, rotting away and the flesh being eaten by maggots! As much as I'd want to retch at the disgusting sight, I had to stay focused on the task at hand. Me and Faralana, who I was surprised had escaped from Maiev, had to search for Norwell's body in order to extract information on the whereabouts of the cult I was born in, my parents and if they're still alive.

"Does he know?" Faralana questioned me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Know what?" I countered cluelessly.

"That **you're** the one who killed Norwell?" Faralana questioned me again, giving me a serious look. "If you did, I bet that went over smoothly!"

"No..." I groaned. "I thought that if I told him, he'd hate me."

"Why would you be worried about him hating you?" the puzzled blood elf asked me with an annoyed sigh. "You killed him because he cheated on you right? Out of blind rage of course!"

"Yes, I know I killed him because of that!" I exclaimed. "And the reason why I'm worried is because I'm trying to be at least on good terms with him because of Marenus!"

Fara facepalmed herself then she stomped on over to me, mumbling something under her breath and put both hands on my face, squishing my cheeks! "Girl, pull yourself together! You. And. Marenus. Don't. Need. That. Cheating. Butthole. In your lives! From what you've told me about Illidan, you and him can still talk to each other and he can manifest himself in the physical world, correct?"

I nodded to her question as her holding my face prevented me from speaking properly.

"And Marenus approves of Illidan as well too, right?" she asked me again, releasing her hold on my face and I nodded again in reply. "Then you don't need that walking corpse of an ex-husband around you! Fuck what Varian says!"

"Yeah, but it's still **our** mission!" I defended. "Besides, if this pregnancy starts to get a bit too much for me, Varian gave me permission to go back home and stay there until the baby comes."

"Okay then." Faralana grunted, knowing that she couldn't win this argument. "You do know that you're starting to show, right?"

I looked down at my belly and I realised that it was starting to turn into a bump! "Yeah, I know." I stated with a straight face. "But I've already heard from others that I should be at home resting when in reality, I've faced off foes before when I was pregnant with Marenus."

"Really? The pregnancy didn't weigh you down at all?" Faralana perplexed, in shock of what I said.

"Nope! Not even when I was close to being full-term!" I laughed.

"By the Sunwell, you're one tough mama!" the blood elf bantered, lightly elbowing my upper arm. "I don't think I know anyone else who can do the shit that you can do while pregnant, not to mention almost close to giving birth!"

I giggled as a reply and we both kept searching through the innumerable bodies that were left in the sewer to rot. Finally, even though the face was as pale as snow, I recognised the wound on his throat!

_'Norwell...I'm so sorry...'_

"I found him!" I alerted Faralana. "Get Edua and Ludwig down here!"

Fara nodded and went to the pathway where we entered the sewers. "Hey! You two, we found the body!" she called out for both death knights. "Come down here quickly!"

I was struggling to move Norwell's body from under the pile of bodies that were on top of him, but Faralana helped me and we were able to remove his body from the stack. Ludwig and Edua rushed over to us and Ludwig immediately look horrified as he stared down at Norwell's body!

"Your leader is ruthless." he commented, looking up at Fara.

She simply shrugged and we both stood back as Edua and Ludwig were beginning a ritual to summon Norwell's spirit. As sparks of magic were flying around the large room of the sewers, my heart started racing and for comfort, I held onto Illidan's hearthstone that he gave to me before he died. Fara looked over to me and she must've noticed how nervous I was as she rubbed my back to help me calm down.

"One way or another, the truth is going to come out, so be prepared if Ludwig confronts you later." She whispered to me and went back to observing the ritual.

I took a deep breath to try and relax from the oncoming anxiety that will surely devour me soon and once the overflowing sparks of magic stopped, a ghostly outline from Norwell's body began to horizontally lift up into the air. Once his spirit was faced upright, the terrified expression on his face said it all.

"What is this?! What's going on?!" The spirit panicked then he looked at me and his expression changed into an angry one. "You! You traitorous bitch!!"

"Norwell, wait!" Ludwig suddenly called out to the spirit.

"L-Ludwig?! What happened to you?" Norwell shrieked.

"Norwell, please we need you to calm down right now. We need to ask you some questions!" The human death knight said to Norwell, trying to calm him down.

"Why should I calm down when that whore of a traitor killed me?" The spirit bellowed as he pointed at me and Ludwig had a look of disbelief. "How are you even alive? I thought you were dead!"

Ludwig stared at me for a good 7 seconds then he silently took a deep breath and turned to face the spirit of Norwell. "Look, I know you have many questions and I'll deal with her later, but that's not important right now." he stated, acknowledging Norwell's confusion and rage. " **I** need to ask you something and it does have something to do with Alyssana, are you going to be okay with that?"

The spirit seemed hesitant to answer but he took one look at me and shut his eyes with a sigh. "Alright, what is it that you seek, Ludwig?" he conceded.

"Do you remember when I asked for your help to track down Alyssana's parents and the cult they were a part of?" Ludwig questioned Norwell.

"Ah yes, I remember that!" Norwell responded with glee. "I was meant to tell you that the cult is **still around** , but that was **before** you died. I wasn't sure if I should've told Alyssana that you were looking for her parents and the cult to help her get answers since I know you wanted it to be a surprise."

I let a little gasp escape my breath as I listened to their conversation.

"So they're still active?" Ludwig continued, inquiring about the cult.

"Before I was killed, I had received information about the Shadow Fel Eyes cult having a base of operations within **Duskwood**." Norwell continued, answering Ludwig's question. "Apparently, there's not that many members left after a **paladin** leading a group of his troops raided their original base in a cave within **Deadwind Pass** that wasn't far from **Karazhan**."

_'A paladin? I wonder who that was?'_

"Did you happen to catch the name of the paladin?" Ludwig wondered.

"Sorry no. I don't remember, if I was even told the name." the spirit of Norwell apologised for his lack of memory. "But moving on! I even heard rumours about two former members of the Shadow Fel Eyes cult going around the whole of Azeroth trying to find something or someone."

The last sentence made me jump, my heart racing as I had an idea of who he was talking about. He looked at me as if he knew of my reaction. "They could be your parents, Alyssana." he spoke to me. "But the information that was given to me was a little vague as my comrades couldn't even approach them without getting paltered with Fel Fireballs. If they are your parents, it's clear that they do not want to be found!"

"What if **I** were to find them?" I queried, walking towards the spirit and standing close to Ludwig. 

"But Alyssana, what if they're not your parents?" Ludwig quizzed me, looking at me sternly. "What if they attack you when you're in your most vulnerable state?"

"Luddy, if they're my parents, they would **recognise** me!" I disputed with a huff.

"It could go either way." Norwell interjected. "But Ludwig's right! If you're going to be the one looking for them, you'd have to be extremely cautious as they may not recognise you at first glance."

I sighed heavily, looking away from both Ludwig and Norwell, not wanting to look at them in the eye in confidence.

"Wait, Alyssana has Fel magic right?" Ludwig gasped, suggesting an idea for me. "What if she approached them using her Fel magic? It would give her an advantage!"

"That could work but they could easily mistake you as a member of the cult they were a part of." Norwell noted.

"But wouldn't it be worth a try?" Faralana spoke up, standing next to me.

"It would, but like I said, it could go either way." Norwell reiterated.

Fara nodded and then turned to me. "I'll go scout the entrance and make sure no one is listening in." she whispered.

I nodded in reply and went back to face Norwell. "Norwell..." I began. "I know it's too late to say this, but I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I know it won't change anything but if I don't say it now, I'll never forgive myself for what I did to you."

He sighed looking down. "No...I was the one in fault!"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Ludwig exclaimed with confusion in an upset tone.

"Ludwig, after you died, I started to have feelings for Alyssana during the time after she gave birth to your son, Marenus. She asked me to watch over him and to send her letters about his growing up without her." Norwell began to explain. "When I came to find her in Outland and when I found her, I thought she'd want to come back home, but...she had the Betrayer take her in as his apprentice and from what I've been told, they 'naturally' fell in love with one another. I lashed out, taking a portal to Stormwind, spreading a lie about her betraying the Alliance and I even got someone to tell Marenus about her as well, just to get back at her. The rest is history!"

You couldn't even tell that Ludwig was shocked but his hands were balled up in fists! I could sense he was angry with me because I killed his best friend, but even I lashed out too.

"But what I did was a low blow and I brought my own death upon myself." Norwell admitted. "Ludwig, please...don't blame Alyssana for doing what was right to her at that point. I provoked her and she killed me as an ending result."

Ludwig sighed deeply through his nose and nodded in reply. "Do you happen to know where those two ex-cult members were last seen?"

"Somewhere within Northrend, around the Crystalsong Forest I believe." Norwell responded.

"Alright..." Ludwig sighed, looking as if he was about to go deep in thought. "Your spirit may rest now, Norwell. Farewell!"

Norwell's spirit smiled and he vanished into thin air, his soul now released from this world. Ludwig walked off to the entrance and I was about to follow him but his annoyed grunt stopped me in my tracks.

"I don't want to deal with you right now..." he muttered, loud enough for me to hear and he kept power-walking away to the entrance of the sewers.

As much as I was glad that he doesn't want to talk to me, a part of me felt a pinch of heartbreak. I know I lied to him but how was I supposed to tell him that I killed his best friend too? He even admitted that he brought it on himself and that he was to blame for betraying me like Ludwig did! I felt as if I couldn't move any further as Ludwig was starting to move out of my sight, the clunking sound of his armoured boots stomping away. Edua walked over to me, noticing that I was hurt with how Ludwig pushed me away.

"I know you had to lie to him for a good reason." She acknowledged. "But you knew he would find out. You just didn't want to hurt him."

I sniffled, trying to hold back my tears of pain and they quickly disappeared when Faralana came running down.

"Is everything okay? I saw Ludwig walking away-" She exclaimed but stopped when she saw my expression of misery. "He found out didn't he?"

"I don't understand why I feel so guilty about it." I shakily sighed, trying to relieve myself of the pain.

"You still care about him." Faralana stated with an annoyed expression. "Alyssana, the number one thing about the undead is that they don't care about the living. I don't give a shit if you're trying to be friends with him for the sake your son, focus only on you and Illidan!"

I was slightly frightened by Faralana being this straight forward, but I understood what she said and I got a wake up call, realising that I was trying to be a good person to someone who doesn't deserve my kindness. I gulped and nodded to her in understanding and I held onto my hearthstone that Illidan had given me. I heard his voice in my head suddenly which sounded like music to my ears, calming me instantly.

_"I understand that you were trying to see if you can be on good terms with him, my love. But Faralana's right, the undead has no love or care for the living. When you sleep again, come visit and spend time with me."_

I smiled to myself which provoked Faralana to give me weird look. "S-sorry!" I giggled. "Just imagining Illidan telling me off that's all."

_"Now you know that if I told you off, I'll make sure you're **rightfully** punished."_

_'Dammit, Illidan! Not now! I love you but not now!'_

I shook my head to rid myself of any dirty thoughts of Illidan and I gestured for Edua and Faralana to follow me to find Ludwig, just to make sure he hasn't gone on a tantrum-fuelled killing spree again. As we were walking up to where we entered the sewers, we heard noises as if there was small battle going on and so we hurried to the entrance and we saw that Ludwig was slicing down several Ashtongue Broken Draenei! Without a word, I hurried to his side and battled along with him, Edua and Faralana. Knowing I had a grudge against the Ashtongue and Akama himself, I was given the last kill, yet even Akama was nowhere to be seen! Maybe this was just a random patrol group? After the small group of malformed Draenei were defeated, Ludwig searched one of the bodies.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Trying to see if they were a search party for your Demon Hunter friend." He growled at me as he grabbed a satchel and forced it open, searching through its contents. "Bah! Nothing! They were probably a random patrol. You and Edua get back to Northrend, I'm not in the mood to deal with you."

"Hold up one minute, Holton!" I bellowed his true last name at him as he was walking away but stopped a few feet away and turned to face me, his dead eyes glowing with rage. "I had to lie about how Norwell died! Don't you fucking realise that even though you were raised from the dead, I didn't want to hurt you by telling you that I killed him?! Even then, I still cared enough-"

"Stop lying to me!" Ludwig roared at me. "You don't care about me! You never cared about my feelings! You made it pretty clear when we met again!"

"You know, I tried to be on good terms with you for the sake of our son but you don't care about him, do you?!" I barked. "You're an undead, you'll never care about anyone other than yourself! At least I tried to care about you because I didn't want to tell you the truth about Norwell. Now that it's out and about, he tells you it was his fault for his own death and you're getting mad over that?!"

"Enough!!! I've grown sick and tired of your bullshit, woman!!!" The death knight screamed as he charged at me with his blade in hand.

I was about to ready myself to call on my war glaives, until...

**CLANK!!!**

**THUD!!**

A familiar 9 foot tall figure appeared in front of me within a flash, shielding me from Ludwig's attack!

"Yell at my beloved one more time and I won't be afraid to take over her body just to silence you once and for all, you annoying piece of deadweight!" said a familiar voice that made my body shiver with arousal.

"Lord Illidan?!" Faralana perplexed in shock, her lower jaw shaking.

"Dalah'surfal!" I exclaimed with joy.

Illidan had manifested himself in the physical world again, this time to fight against Ludwig who was on the floor, coughing up blood and clenching his stomach.

"Why?" Ludwig breathed. "Why did you let Alyssana kill Norwell?"

"I tried to stop her, Ludwig." Illidan corrected him. "But I can confirm that due to her rage, she did that all by herself. You heard it from Norwell, don't blame Alyssana for what happened. You know that his choices lead to his death because he tried to expose Alyssana for murdering you."

"What I don't get is how is she still here?!" Ludwig snarled. "How did the Alliance let her get away with what she did to me and Norwell?!"

"They found me innocent, Ludwig, due to you throwing in your lot with the Cult of the Damned. Norwell on the other hand, he was suspected of being in league with the Legion but he never was. I've spoken with Varian on this and he pardoned me for it." I stated to him. "It's because of that that I was spared being behind bars in the Stockades."

Ludwig looked away from me, spitting blood on the floor. I felt Edua put a hand on my left shoulder and gave me a comforting look.

"Look, I'll deal with him while you get back to Northrend and continue our mission." Edua said to me and Illidan looked behind to see me talking to her. "It's clear that Ludwig's mind isn't in the right place at this moment. Once he gets over this **small** thing, we'll come right back to you, okay?"

I agreed with Edua and she opened up a death gate and demanded for Ludwig to step through. Once they did, I gestured for Illidan to pick me up in his arms and once he put away his weapons and swept me up in his arms, he got the hint and held me tightly with a purr, nuzzling his face into the crook of my neck.

"Are you alright, my love?" He asked me, pulling away to face me.

I shook my head, my breathing being a little shaky and Illidan put a hand behind my head and snuggled me.

"I don't mean to interrupt you two lovebirds, but I must inform you on something." Faralana nervously chuckled.

"Faralana? You're still alive?" Illidan exclaimed. "I thought we all fell!"

"I don't know who else may have escaped but I found my way out when I was about to be imprisoned." Fara commented. "My lord, there's more hunters still imprisoned by Maiev and her wardens. If I can get out of there, then I can free more of our brethren!"

"Do what you must to free them. Start with Kayn Sunfury, he should be there!" Illidan commanded Faralana and she bowed before him.

"I do hope we meet again, Alyssana!" she chuckled. "I'll try to free our friends along the way and maybe, if we're on time, we could be there for the birth of your baby."

"Thank you, Fara, that means a lot to me." I thanked her and she smiled before she ran off to find the exit out of the Black Temple.

I returned my attention to Illidan who caught me off-guard with a deep and passionate kiss that made me melt. When our kiss stopped, we leant our foreheads against each other, staring into one another's eyes with an adoring hum.

"I hate that I can only be with you in the physical world for a short amount of time, but damn it all, I want to cherish these little moments with you." he cooed softly but loud enough for me to hear. "These moments are special to me and I hope to you as well."

"Of course they're special to me, Illidan." I sniffled. "Every second with you is important to me because not only am I happy to have you in my life and that you want to share your life with me, but also that I have the privilege to love you in every way possible and I'm honoured that you gave me that privilege to love you unconditionally."

I tried my best to repress my incoming tears which only spilt a little down my cheeks and Illidan chuckled, kissing them and then kissing my lips softly, trying not to prick them with his fangs.

"So, you need to find your parents." Illidan sighed, putting me down on the ground on my feet. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I will be! I need to know if they genuinely loved me or if they even cared about me." I replied with a hopeful tone. "And I want to know why they were in the cult in the first place."

"I'll be honest, I feel a bit nervous about you finding them." He admitted, crossing his arms in deep thought. "Since you're now showing, they would have a lot of questions as to why you're out and about in the first place. And what of their reactions when you tell them everything, including that you know how to wield Fel magic thanks to me?"

I simply giggled and shook my head at Illidan's concerns, knowing that he was afraid of what my parents would think of him being with me. I went on my tippy toes and gestured him to lean down and I quickly booped his nose and laughed my ass off when he growled with a scowl on his face!

"I'm trying to be serious and you're acting like a child." He monotoned, raising his brow bone.

"I just find it funny that you're worried about what my parents would think of you." I joked. "Besides, you should know by now that I won't care what they think because I'm a grown woman and if they can't accept that I'm with you, well that's their problem, not mine."

Illidan smiled and lightly pinched my cheek. "Throughout your mission, if it gets too rough for you, just squeeze the Hearthstone I given you. From now on, it'll be the only way to temporarily summon me."

"Only temporary?" I flirted, although it didn't make Illidan laugh as it only made him give me a serious look. "I'm just trying to make light of things, jeez! In all seriousness, I understand. If I get overwhelmed or if I need a hero, I'll summon you."

"But whenever you get a chance to be alone, and when I mean alone I mean when Fuckwig's not around to be a complete asshole, be sure to summon me as well too!" Illidan added, picking me up in his arms and holding me to his chest. "I want to be able to check up on my baby personally."

"Aww, you're such a cute daddy!" I squealed in happiness, hugging Illidan and nuzzling my face into his chest.

"I was talking about you, but you're right about that." Illidan laughed. "I gotta make sure the baby's okay too!"

I looked up at him with a big smile and loving eyes and he nuzzled my nose with his and put me down on the ground again.

"Kenethil'surfas." He said quietly, telling me he loves me in the Darnassian tongue.

I repeated the phrase back "Kenethil'surfas." and he faded away into thin air.

With a heavy sigh that provoked the baby to kick around in my belly, I opened a portal back to the Valiance Keep in Northrend. I don't know when Edua and Ludwig will be back, but I've gotta keep faith that Ludwig will get over what Norwell told him. About how he died by my hand! I will admit yet again, I do feel guilty hiding that fact from Ludwig but it wasn't till I realised that I did the same thing to Illidan. I didn't tell him that I was married until I almost lost him to Faralana, when she was still having a big fuss over Illidan choosing me to be his mate. I really thought I was going to lose him, but I'm glad I stepped in to save him from Fara and that I was able to talk to her out of being my enemy! As I stepped through the portal, Ludwig's scary looking horse was in front of me and he gave off a snort that sounded as if he was greeting me. I reached out to pet him and the kind spooky horse leant his snout into my hand then he nodded to my belly and made a soft neigh. It didn't take long for a death gate to open a few feet away from both me and the horse and both Edua and Ludwig stepped through! All I did was stare at Ludwig in wonder, hesitating if I should greet him since he had a huge tantrum earlier that could've killed me. He walked over to me and his horse and made a huge sigh looking down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clearly, this chapter is meant to be posted today on the 1st of January of 2021 but oh well, maybe until the website updates everything? XD   
> I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far <3


	14. Reflection and Thassarian's Mission (Ludwig's P.O.V)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After his meltdown, Ludwig opens the idea of the Lich King having the power of mental possession to Alyssana. Warning her that being around him could be dangerous, Ludwig suggests that the group splits up with Alyssana going to Dragonblight and with Ludwig and Edua going to aid Thassarian who was supposedly on a suicide mission.

"I'm sorry for lashing out at you earlier." I muttered to Alyssana.

I had to go back to the Archeus to straighten myself out after that meltdown I had earlier.

_"You don't care about me! You never cared about my feelings! You made it pretty clear when we met again!"_

I realised in that moment, that's when Arthas took control of my body and my soul was "ripped" out of my rotten flesh vessel. Thankfully, I was able to gain enough control to be able to spit venom towards Illidan and Alyssana but when I went back to the Archeus with Edua, Arthas took over me again and this time I was about to lash out at Edua! Fortunately, the gore princess herself wasn't afraid to give me a pummelling which broke Arthas' control on my body and I was able to have full control again.

"Honestly, you did make a big fuss and you almost killed me and my unborn child, but that's on me too." Alyssana replied with a half-smile. "I should be the one sorry for keeping the truth about Norwell's death hidden from you."

"No!" I snapped then I breathed in deeply to calm down. "You had every reason to hide his death from me. You knew he was my best friend so of course it wouldn't be easy for you to tell me. It's very clear that me being around you is too dangerous, however. Like you said, I almost killed you along with your unborn child so again, I cannot be around you any longer."

Back at the Archeus, I had told Edua that if Arthas is going to take over my body any time me and Alyssana have an argument, it would be best if I stayed away from her.   
I was mounting up on Enmity to ride to Thassarian but Alyssana stopped me. "Ludwig, you're past that now. I-it's okay!"

"No it's not." I countered. "You'll never understand why."

"Then help me understand, Luddy." she reasoned, the very mentioning of my nickname sending a jolt to my undead heart. "Why do you think that you need to stay away from me? Is it because we argue too much?

"The Lich King has the power to take over one's body and use it as his own." Edua spoke up, saving me from having a possible argument with Alyssana and causing her to face Edua. "When Ludwig and you were arguing about you hiding the truth from him, the moment he was about to violently lash out at you was the Lich King's doing. He took advantage of Ludwig's anger at you and used it to control him, like a puppet on strings!"

Back at the Archeus and after Edua beat Arthas' spirit out of me, I talked her into helping me open up the possibility of the Lich King's ability to possess to Alyssana in hopes that when I finally tell her about **that night** , she would understand me and maybe believe me. Alyssana faced back at me and she had a moment where she looked as if she was about to cry.

"To put simply, if I stay hanging around you any longer, Arthas will try to take control of me and make me kill you." I concluded. "That's why I fainted here! He told me of his plan to use me as a puppet and when you're at your most vulnerable, he'll use that chance to kill you."

Alyssana's face changed from emotional to pissed off. "You didn't forget that I am a mage right?" she scolded me. "If you have to stay away from me, fine, but there's one thing that I will need your help with."

I pondered for a moment, then I looked at Edua who shrugged at me as if she doesn't know what Alyssana wants from me. "Alright, what is it?" I asked my ex-wife, breaking the silence.

She then brought out a book that had leather covering, but the front cover was carved out and I could tell it was an arcane rune. "I don't know how Illidan got his hands on this but he gave it to me because of a form I took on when I was supposed to kill him. Apparently, the form I took on is a rare sight as it can only be cast by a powerful Archmage or a blue dragon." Alyssana began to explain. "I need to find a blue dragon specifically because knowing the Blue Dragonflight, they're masters of the arcane. If I can find one of them to take a look at this, maybe they could help me figure out why I'm able to cast it, despite not formally being an Archmage."

"I do know one dragon that could help, but he's at the Wyrmrest Temple in Dragonblight." Edua spoke up again. "His name is Kalecgos! It will be a while until we reach Dragonblight, but if it's the last thing we do with you, then we will help you on your quest."

"Thank you, Edua! You too, Luddy." The mage chuckled.

She summoned a portal beside her and a black horse with a wavy dark brown mane came through! The horse snorted as its master went up to it to soothe it and once Alyssana was mounted on the horse, she immediately went off in the direction to Dragonblight.

"W-wait up!" I exclaimed, gesturing Enmity to catch up with her and Edua had summoned her hulking undead Elekk.

Even in undeath, she couldn't bear parting with her Elekk as she had raised it from when it was young! Before Edua was raised as a death knight, her Elekk had fallen in the battle that led to her undead life, so when she was raised, she had already gone to find her fallen tusked friend and so she raised it into undeath. Once she mounted the undead Elekk, she caught up with me and Alyssana! I gestured Enmity to run a bit closer to Alyssana's horse as I remembered something.

"You know, I may have to stick around for a bit longer because I need you to help me with something in return!" I shouted to her.

"What is it?" She asked loudly over the sound of hooves trotting on the ground.

"You remember how Thassarian said that he had personal business? I got intel from the innkeeper and some drunken man all the way from Kul Tiras and they told me that Thassarian was sent on a suicide mission to conquer a Ziggurat!" I answered her in the same volume as hers. "I must know if he's still alive!"

Alyssana halted her horse and I did the same along with Edua!

"Let's just hope that he is!" She panted, trying to catch her breath. "You know what? I've changed my mind! I think you're right about splitting up and going on our own ways."

"What?" Edua exclaimed, her undead Elekk trumpeting a growl, as if it's mimicking it's master. "Alyssana, in case you're forgetting, you are pregnant for Light's sake! What if something happens to you and your unborn child while you're on your way to Dragonblight?"

"How many times do I have to tell you guys that I've fought off my enemies while I was pregnant?!" Alyssana countered with a shout.

"Wait, you fought while you were pregnant? With Marenus I assume?" I pondered in disbelief. "I'm finding it hard to believe."

"You can ask the locals in Astranaar." She debated. "That's not important right now, we're wasting time here so here's the plan! Ludwig, you and Edua go find Thassarian. I'll make my way to Dragonblight and I'll get to Wrymrest Temple and see if I can reach Kalecgos and ask him about the book. I'll also make my way to Crystalsong Forest and find my parents."

"Did you forget what Norwell said back in Outland? What if they're not your parents? What if they kill you on sight?" I restated, hoping to change Alyssana's mind on going on her own path.

I know that me being around her is dangerous, but I don't want to hear news of Alyssana being hurt or worse! "If that happens, then Illidan will protect me. He did it before when you tried to kill me!" Alyssana objected. "It's better this way, Ludwig."

"Well, if we meet up again, I'm not letting you out of my sight." I scoffed with a smile, pointing at her. "Like Varian said, I am supposed to be your bodyguard and I'm not supposed to let you go unprotected."

"We'll see how long that lasts! In the meantime, learn how to shut out Arthas any time you think he's going to possess you." she instructed. "Once you're done here and if I make it in time, meet me in Dalaran and we'll all find out how to prevent the Lich King's possession, if you've been unable to find a way."

Alyssana was about to gesture her horse to ride for Dragonblight but I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and she looked at me straight in the eyes. "Please be careful on your way to Dragonblight. I don't want to hear that you've been hurt or worse! I know I'm your ex-husband and I am undead, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you because I **do** care about you. Just thought I'd let you know before you go."

I was about to get Enmity to ride for Thassarian but Alyssana stopped me with a peck on the cheek! She nodded and rode her horse at high speed, riding to Dragonblight. I watched as her figure faded out of sight and when she was gone, me and Edua headed for The Wailing Ziggurat. It's a base for the Cult of the Damned but I'm sure Thassarian had no problem dealing with them. Once we got there, we saw cultists running out of the building in fear and when we got to the entrance, we saw Thassarian using a death grip spell on a lich! We even saw Lurid, Thassarian's companion intimidating what seemed to be High Deathpriest.

"You worship death, little man? Death is here!" The undead taunted the blubbering Deathpriest.

"Please...all our orders come from Naxcanar...me and my men are all kept in the dark!" He pleaded.

"Oh shut up!" Lurid groaned as he hit the Deathpriest.

"Mercy!" The Deathpriest continued to beg. "You were once with us! Do you not remember?"

Lurid scoffed then turned to Thassarian who was clearly focused on something else entirely. "Master...you want...I kill puny priest? Make painful yes?"

The Deathpriest shrieked in horror and turned to Thassarian as well. "I beg you, death knight! Keep your minion away from me! I'll do anything!"

I had a little laugh to myself and I approached Thassarian, giving Lurid a high-five as I passed him.

Before I could even speak to my fellow death knight, he taunted the Lich he was torturing. "Speak, Lich! Undeath won't save you from what I'll put you through!"

"Uhh, Thassarian? Hi!" I sheepishly interrupted, waving nervously as I'm trying to get his attention.

"No time for small talk, Ludwig. I was sent on what was to be a suicide mission to take this ziggurat. I've accomplished my duty as a soldier, now is the time to get some answers." Thassarian replied.

I nodded, saluting him. "Right. What is the plan?"

"This Lich has knowledge I seek, yet I cannot inflict pain to his physical body to obtain that knowledge." Thassarian began to explain. "He stored his soul in a phylactery, and while it remains hidden, I won't be able to pry the information from him. Return to Death's Stand and take my horse, Dusk, she will lead you to the phylactery, and once you find it, bring it to me."

"As you command!" I acknowledged and gestured Edua to come along.

We rode back to Death's Stand as instructed and we had to assure the humans there that we're not here to harm anyone and that we're with Thassarian. I saw Dusk and she motioned for me to hop on to her saddle and she immediately took off whilst I was trying to comfortable and Edua followed closely, laughing at me! We got to an icy lake and once I hopped off of Dusk, she motioned to the icy water and I could see that there was indeed an object in the waters below. I swam down below and when I tried to grab the phylactery, I was attacked by drowned guardians! I finished them off quickly but once I did, the guardian attacked me as well.

"The phylactery is not yours to take, Ludwig! You will pay for your transgression!" He taunted.

With a smile, I went to work on defeating this guardian. It was a little difficult but after his defeat, I grabbed the phylactery and Edua reached out her hand to help me get onto her Elekk's saddle. We both rode back to the Ziggurat and went up Thassarian!

"You're back, you two! Did you get the phylactery?" He asked.

"Damn straight we did!" I chuckled, showing him the phylactery in my hand.

"Just in time, Ludwig. Pinning down a Lich is not as easy as it looks!" He replied.

"I can imagine!" I agreed, setting down the phylactery. "Now what?"

"Now that we have this phylactery, I shouldn't have any problems getting the information I need." He began. "It won't take long for the Scourge in Temple City to notice something's up, however."

"So we're going to the Temple City?" Edua asked Thassarian.

"Yes, indeed you are! In fact, I need you to take care of something for me." Thassarian replied with a chuckle. "I won't be able to fend off a full scale attack. Or maybe I would...but I'd rather not find out! I want you two to head down there and inflict some casualties. Hopefully they'll be distracted long enough for these two to spill their guts...figuratively of course. Take Lurid with you, he might be of aid."

"So suddenly I'm not enough fire power, Thassarian? Oh, how you hurt me!" Edua teased the death knight. "You're forgetting why I have the name of 'Gore Princess'...and how I've earned it!"

"Well, if you can cause enough chaos at the Temple City of En'kilah, do it!" Thassarian scoffed.

"I'll go handle it! Ludwig, you stay." Edua chuckled with pride.

"I'm not a dog, Eddy." I groaned.

"No, but you need to update Thassarian on our situation. He must know!" she mentioned before leaving to go ensue chaotic death and destruction at the Temple.

"Update me on what?" Thassarian asked me, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Agh, tell me later but I need to do my interrogation alone, Ludwig, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, Thassarian! I'll just step outside for a while." I replied, walking away and leaned on a nearby wall while I waited for Thassarian to finish interrogating the Lich and that Deathpriest.

**8 minutes later...**

After some silence occurred after all the screaming and talking, I walked back in the Ziggurat and greeted Lurid and Thassarian again.

"Alright what was Edua talking about before?" Thassarian asked me again. "What's happening?"

"Ever since coming here, brother, I've been mentally compromised." I worried.

"What do you mean by that?" Thassarian prodded further. "Has something happened between you and Alyssana?"

"I'll get to that in a minute, but I've had a faint spell earlier, caused by the Lich King. He told me that I shouldn't have come here and that he has the power to possess me if I disobey his orders to kill Alyssana! I don't know what grudge he has against her but she's his main target right now!" I began to explain to Thassarian who had a continually growing shocked look on his face. "This may sound crazy but I think he's reason why Alyssana killed me five years ago! She killed me because Arthas made me cheat on her, using my body like a puppet. He even said that anytime Alyssana is at her most vulnerable is when he'll take over my body and make me kill her."

"By the helm, that must've been horrible to hear!" Thassarian exclaimed, keeping his death grip on the lich. "What about when you woke up?"

I continued my story. "When I came to, I wanted to help Alyssana find her parents but the only person who had a lot of info on their whereabouts was Norwell, but according to Alyssana, he's dead. So being a death knight, logically, I can speak to the dead! So I asked Alyssana to take me to Outland to find Norwell's body to get in contact with his spirit. He did tell us where she could find her parents, but he also told me that Alyssana killed him because he tried to expose her for killing me. That's when I lost it! Arthas took advantage of that and I almost killed Alyssana and her unborn child!"

"Did you tell her what happened?" Thassarian gasped. "Did you get to tell her what happened **that night**?"

"No, I can't tell her about that yet!" I sputtered in frustration, then I took a deep breath to calm down again. "But I **did** tell her about the Lich King's ability to possess me when I get angry, especially if my anger is targeted towards her. Because of that, Alyssana has decided to go her own path."

"What the fuck, Ludwig?!" He exploded at me with a loud voice. "Isn't she pregnant?! She can't be out there on her own!"

"Don't quote me on this, but apparently Illidan can manifest himself if he senses that Alyssana is in danger, so I think she's covered for the time being." I debated, then I went on, expressing my frustration towards Illidan's soulbind with my ex-wife. "I don't know what fucking magic Illidan used to bind himself to Alyssana, but it must be that powerful that he can come into the physical world whenever he wants to fuck Alyssana's brains out or to beat my ass to a pulp."

"Okay, I think you took it way too far." Thassarian cringed with a chuckle. "But I get what you mean. Alyssana has Illidan to protect her so she'll be fine."

"All I can do is pray that Alyssana finds her way to the temple." I muttered as I sat down, leaning against the wall. "If I have to, Thassarian, I'd stalk her to make sure she's okay, but I won't do it...she'll kick my ass if she finds me following her. For as long as I've known her, she has changed a lot! Maybe it was best that she changed, otherwise she wouldn't have the confidence to face such difficult tasks on her own. The fact that she doesn't even need me or Illidan to protect her, although Illidan's going to no matter what, is scary to me. But I don't blame her either...having to give away Marenus just to protect him from the truth of my death and not wanting to be a bad mother because of that, it must've broke her."

"She gave up her motherhood to protect your son." Thassarian added. "I can imagine that it probably wasn't easy. Like her hiding the truth of Norwell's death from you, it seems she did the same with Marenus, but it was only that she didn't want hurt either of you. Yet the truth had to come out one way or another! The difference is Marenus accepted it, **you** however, reacted negatively to it and that's normal."

"Yeah, what's normal about me almost killing my pregnant ex-wife?" I scoffed.

"What I'm saying is people have certain reactions to when they discover a truth hidden from them and if the intention was to protect them from said truth. There's positive, mundane and negative reactions and all of that is normal!" Thassarian clarified, trying to help Ludwig understand his meaning a little better.

We heard hooved footsteps on the stairs of the entrance of the building and we saw Edua jogging towards us with coagulated blood all over her weapon and a little bit on her armor. I almost choked at the sight because she had a joyful smile on her face!

"They should've called you 'The Princess of Creepy Smiles.'" I joked. "How'd you go? Did you have fun?"

"Lots of fun!" Edua giggled with glee.

"Good job, Edua, that should buy us some time. Isidorus has been cooperative, but I really needed that alone time with the Lich." Thassarian chuckled. "The Lich has spoken! The high priests of En'kilah hold the secret to entering Naxxanar. Go to the spires of Blood, Pain and Decay and slay each of the priests. Each of them hold scrolls that have information on the Naxxanar! Return here once you've retrieved the three scrolls. This time, Edua, Ludwig's going with you."

I nodded in agreement and both me and Edua headed back to the Temple City. Me and Edua were able to point out the Spires. The Spire of Blood being towards the north, The Spire of Pain being in the west and The Spire of Decay being in the east. Edua decided take on the west and east spires while I handled the northern spire. After chopping down some necromancers, I was finally able to find the High Priest, namely Andorath.

"Kinda spry for a blood elf, don't ya think?" I joked at the High Priest who immediately charged at me.

It was too easy! All I did was slice him in half with my runeblade and I obtained the scroll he had on his person. I got out of the spire to see Edua all bloodied up again with yet again, another creepy smile! She laughed and then attempted to clean off the blood from her armor. I held up the scroll that I grabbed off of the blood elf's body that I sliced in half and Edua held up the other two!

_'How the heck did she get them so quickly?'_

I shook my head and motioned that we should to return to Thassarian.

Once we did, he had an annoyed look on his face. "Taking your time, are you? I don't know how much longer I can keep this Lich restrained." He grunted then me and Edua showed him the scrolls. "Excellent work, you two! Now for one last bit of information."

_'Oh great, another errand? This better be good!'_

"As we all know, we all served Arthas in death, because we had no choice. He had control over wills and our bodies." He began, me and Edua agreeing on his statement. "The Cukt of the Damned serves Arthas in life...willingly. Now that we know the words of power to enter Naxxanar, we can put an end to the cultist blight. I need you two to go back once again to En'kilah and look for a teleportation orb beneath the floating citadel. Work your way up and meet me at the top. Make sure you're armed with what courage you can muster, we might make it out of this alive."

"Understood, Thassarian!" Edua saluted. "Come on, Ludwig."

I followed Edua to the temple city again. After slaughtering another batch of undead, we made it to the teleportation orb which was more like a platform. Once me and Edua stepped in, we were in Naxxanar! This time, some undead mages were in our way so after taking them down, we made it to the second floor and started looking around for a way on top of this floating citadel. I groaned when I saw a teleportation platform just right above where we entered! I motioned for Edua to follow me and we stepped on the platform and we teleported to the top of the citadel to find Thassarian with his back to us.

"Ah good, you made it!" He acknowledged our presence. "This is where the cultists' orders are coming from. Their leader is bound to show up soon, so let's not miss this opportunity."

Edua and me nodded in agreement. "Let's do this, Thassarian." I spoke. "It's now or never."

We all walked to the very top and we had to stop as we saw an image of the Lich King walk to the middle of summit. Then we saw a human walking towards the Lich King only to reveal that it was Prince Valanar of the San'layn!

"My liege." He started, kneeling to the Lich King. "The infiltration and control of the Alliance power structure by our cultists is well underway. The power you've bestowed upon me has granted me great mental influence over human minds. I bear these offerings as proof of my progress."

Then two humans, a male and female were walking towards Valanar and the way they walked showed proof that they were under some kind of hypnosis.

"Leryssa!" Thassarian shouted and tan a bit closer. "What have you done to my sister, you motherless elf scum?!"

The Lich King then turned to face Thassarian. "Now this is a surprise, Thassarian." He spoke. "I haven't heard from Mograine or the other death knights for a while. You've come to rejoin the Scourge, I take it?"

"I would sooner slit my own throat!!!" Thassarian bellowed. "You will pay for what you did to your own men, Arthas...for what you did to me! I swear it!"

Then the undead San'layn prince stood up. "Allow me to take care of the intruders, lord. I will feed their entrails to the maggots." He chuckled.

"Do not fail me, San'layn." Arthas warned the prince. "Return to Icecrown with this fool's head or do not bother to return."

"Yes, my lord!" Valanar replied and instantly started to attack me and Edua with his spells.

It took a while but we were able to bring him down and break the hypnosis on both of the humans!

"What...what happened to me?" The make human groaned. "Ugh, my head won't stop spinning..."

When the male human collapsed on the ground from a dizzy spell, the female human stood up and faced Thassarian. "Thassarian. You're alive!" She exclaimed.

"Leryssa..." he panted, out of breath from our battle with Valanar as he kneeled down in exhaustion. "You...you're all right!"

Leryssa then ran to Thassarian, kneeling to his height. "I...I thought you were...dead."

"I cannot return home with you just yet, Leryssa. I am not quite done yet with the Scourge." He addressed.

"No, don't leave me again!" Leryssa countered. "You want to fight for your country, but they don't even want you! They sent you here to die!"

_'If the Alliance sent a death knight on a suicide mission, what does that mean for me?'_

I walked closer to both of them to listen in on their conversation. "You might be right, sister." Thassarian scoffed. "My obligations to my land and King have been fulfilled. But there is something I still owe to myself."

"I know that look in your eye..." she half-chuckled. "I'm not going to able to talk you out of this. If you die on me again..."

"Do not worry, Leryssa. I will come back to you when I am done." Thassarian promised. "Nothing in the world will stop me from coming home to the only family I have left."

_"Family..."_

I started hearing the Lich King's voice in my head again.

_'Oh god dammit, not again!'_

_"What family do you have left, Ludwig? Your son hates you for what you've done to his mother and your ex-wife doesn't care about you at all."_

I shook my head to try and drive out the voice and it worked. Thassarian must've noticed what happened as I started to lightly hyperventilate!

"Ludwig, are you okay? What's wrong?" He exclaimed, rushing over to me to closely inspect me.

"Ludwig, did he say something?" Edua asked me in panic.

"What's wrong with him, Thassarian? Is he sick?" Leryssa asked her brother, standing up too.

"This good chap of a death knight is Ludwig, he was recently raised into undeath a few days ago." Thassarian introduced me to his sister and I had enough energy to wave a little. "The Lich King still has some sort of influence on his mind, but he's been fighting it for a while. You go get a ride back home while I take care of this newbie."

"Hey, that was rude!" I exclaimed then I yelped out in pain from my head pounding. "Nice to meet you anyway, Leryssa!"

Edua opened a death gate to go back to the Ziggurat and I collapsed on my knees as I felt the pain throbbing in my head. The throbbing went away when I inhaled deeply and I was able to stand up again.

"Ludwig, did the Lich King get into your head again?" Edua asked me again in concern, making sure I could stand up straight on my own. "Say something!"

"Yeah, he did." I confessed, catching my breath. "He started taunting me about my family...it was when Thassarian and his sister were talking. He talked about Marenus hating me for what I did to Alyssana and how she doesn't care about me."

"He's trying to manipulate you, Ludwig. Alyssana **does** care and Marenus doesn't hate you!" Edua tried to reassure me. "We really need to get a handle on that! Thassarian, are you alright? What Leryssa said about the Alliance..."

"I was hoping to leave my sister out of this, but thanks to you two, she is alive and well." Thassarian remarked. "But she is right about one thing; My obligations to my king and my army have been fulfilled. It is clear I'm not welcome among my comrades anymore."

"What the-" I blurted out. "Thassarian, how could you say that? Alyssana can bear being around you, heck she even offered to come with you on this mission!"

"I know." he acknowledged. "But like her, I will have to find my own way, fighting now wars but my own and following no orders but my heart's."

"I see." I sighed sadly. "Me and Edua are going to head to Dalaran to meet up with Alyssana there, if she's made it there already. You're welcome to come with us or meet up with us if you have time."

"No but perhaps we'll meet again in the future." Thassarian commented. "Until then, stay safe and figure out how to block out the Lich King from your mind. And find Alyssana again, I doubt she can fight on her own out here."

I nodded in agreement and me and Edua ventured off to the east to Dragonblight on our mounts. I hope Alyssana made it to the Wrymrest Temple safely or at least got to a safe place in this cold forsaken land. Now that I think about it, if I'm worrying so much about her, then why the heck did I say that we should split up? It's too late now...it's better this way.


	15. Dalaran, the City of Magic (Alyssana's P.O.V)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having split up from Ludwig and Edua, Alyssana begins travelling into Dragonblight on a quest to the Wrymrest Temple to confront a blue dragon named Kalecgos about the tome containing information about the special conjuration, Augmenta Arcana. However, she runs into an old acquaintance at Star's Rest and their meeting forces Alyssana to return to the place where she had been raised as a new-born.

After crossing some bridges, avoiding some mage hunters and plagued creatures alike, I finally arrived into Dragonblight. I took a rest for a while at a nearby base called Star's Rest and it was accompanied mostly by Night Elves, Draenei and Winter Nymphs. I was met with an image of Archmage Modera of the Kirin Tor and when I was in her peripheral view, she immediately recognised me!

"Alyssana? You're alive?! I thought you were in Outland!" She exclaimed with surprise. "W-wait! You're pregnant? Who's the father? How long has it been?"

"I'll tell you everything when I can see you in person, of course!" I laughed at her shocked face. "What's going on? Why did I see Mage Hunters when I arrived here in Dragonblight?"

"There's a reason why." She began. "The Moonrest Gardens to the southwest were the final resting place of a noble group of Highborne elves. It was also a powerful ley line nexus. The blue Dragonflight used a magical device they call a surge needle to destroy that nexus, freeing the power to redirect at their will. I need more information and if it's not too much to ask, considering you're pregnant, I must ask you to get the information for me."

"No problem!" I replied with a smile. "The first time I was pregnant, I was still able to fight, even in full term! So this should be a piece of cake!"

"There's more! After the upheaval at the ruins, the ghosts of the Highborne rose up and decimated half of the mage hunters present. I need you to go search their corpses for any clues you can find." Modera explained. "Try to take it easy on yourself though, Alyssana."

"I will!" I responded then I made my way to the Moonrest Gardens.

Even in all this snow and cold, Modera wasn't kidding when she said the ghosts of the Highborne rose up. They're everywhere! I was able to spot a few dead mage hunters so with my Arcane Barrage, I was able to take out the ghosts in one shot. After searching all the corpses in the area, I was able to find an envelope. Curious, I read its contents;

**_Goramosh,_ **

**_I am sending a representative of the Ethereum to you. Ambassador Duyheen tells me that there are more of his kind who would like to join the cause. Feel him out, see if you can find a use for him._ **   
**_If he proves helpful, I may consider accepting more of his kind into the fold._ **   
**_Don't be an idiot: burn this letter once you've read it!_ **

**_-M_ **

_'Looks like the courier couldn't make a delivery.'_

I closed the envelope and made my way back to Star's Rest to report back to Modera.

"You've returned! What did you uncover?" She asked me and I gave her the envelope I had read earlier and she started to read it. "Curious, they seek an accord with the Ethereum. The ethereal could prove a powerful ally for Malygos and his madness. This will not do!"

"Crud, so what's the plan? How can we prevent their alliance?" I replied with a question.

"We'll need to kill two birds with one stone and **you** will be the stone." She responded. "Our two birds are Wind Trader Mu'fah and Goramosh. They should be somewhere within the western half of the Moonrest Gardens. Most likely, they're in the larger two-story building overlooking the pit. If you can require proof of their demise, that would be great of you, Alyssana."

"I'll get to it right away! They should be easy to take down." I chuckled.

"By the way, Alyssana, before you go, there is something I must ask you first." Modera suddenly blurted out and I stopped in my tracks.

"Yes, what is it?" I asked her, turning to face her.

"While you were gone, I had to report to the council that you're back here in Azeroth. They wish to see you as soon as possible." She explained. "Once you're done here, I will teleport you to Dalaran."

"W-wait hold on!" I interrupted. "Even when I'm done here, I have a mission of my own as well. I need to get to Wyrmrest Temple and talk to a blue dragon named Kalecgos, are you familiar with him?"

"Yes I am!" Modera acknowledged. "Alright, well once you're done with your own mission, come see me and I'll teleport you to Dalaran."

I nodded in agreement. "Sure, thank you, Modera." and I went off to complete her errand.

I couldn't exactly tell Modera what **my mission** was actually about since the book that I'm carrying was **the one she tried to dispose of** many years ago. If she finds out that **I have the book** , she'd destroy it once and for all! No matter, all I can do is that when I tell Kalecgos about **Augmenta Arcana** , I hope that he doesn't breathe a word about this book to Modera. Once I was in the vicinity of the building Modera was talking about, I could see sorcerers scattered around the place. Being careful, I was able to quickly dispose of any sorcerer that got in my way as well as kill some mage hunters. I felt a sudden yet subtle shock in my body and it wasn't the baby, it was something else!

_"Alyssana, use your Fel magic to seek out the Wind Trader! He's currently not in your sights...but you can use your magic to seek him out.'_

I heard Illidan's voice in my head again and I obeyed his instructions, using a bit of Fel magic to grant me foresight. I saw that the Wind Trader was on the other side of the building at some sort of archway. Then I focused my power to teleport somewhat near him and thankfully I was out of sight. Before I could attack, I overheard his conversation with a mage hunter.

"Yes, yes, I am given to understand that the ley line has already been diverted. I will wait no longer...summon Goramosh this instant! I was personally assured by Malygos that your commander would make the details of this accord his top priority. Now let me pass!" The cranky Wind Trader argued. "You will tell your commander that I will not wait a moment longer! Does he want this alliance or not?!

"It won't be long now." The mage hunter kept reassuring the impatient ethereal. "The master will be with you momentarily."

"Your surge needle appears to have worked perfectly. Surely Goramosh now has time to speak further of the proposed accord? This is insufferable! I represent a nexus-prince, I am not to be made to wait!" The Wind Trader ranted. "Goramosh should be waiting on me! I have been waiting here for an eternity since our last meeting! When will Goramosh be done with his bloody ritual? If I have to wait much longer, I will be forced to reconsider the proposed accord between the Ethereum and the Blue Dragonflight!"

"Sir, please. You have to be patient." The mage hunter panicked.

Sneaking up on him and the mage hunter, I took care of them swiftly and gathered the Wind Trader's remains. I made my way to sneak up on Goramosh but he had noticed my presence and I was almost caught off-guard but I dodged his attack.

"You're too late, mage! The accord has been negotiated. Only the details remain. Small details...like you!" He shouted before attempting another attack on me.

He almost got me and once I moved out of the way of his attack, I summoned a portion of my Fel magic and absorbed his life force. He tried to attack me again but with a combination of my Frost magic, I disabled his knees as I got to work on completely absorbing his life. Once I did, I felt a surge of empowerment yet it was only temporary! I plucked a few of Goramosh's scales and swiftly made my way back to Star's Rest.

I ran up to Modera and showed her proof of the Wind Trader's and Goramosh's demise. "Excellent work, Alyssana! I'm glad you were able to come back unscathed!" Modera acknowledged.

"Well, I did learn from the best." I replied with a chuckle.

"Before I could ask anything further of you, I must report to you about something." Modera addressed.

I suddenly felt a shock, the same feeling when I interrogated soldiers from the Alliance about who sent them and where I could find where they're getting their orders from. I did my best to hold down a burning pain in my veins which meant that the Fel was heating up within me.

_"Alyssana, listen to me! If they try to harm you, be wary of those who surround you!"_ I heard Illidan's voice in my head again, reminding me to be cautious.

"I've been made aware that you uncovered a truth about yourself and it's a part of your mission, am I correct?" She asked me calmly.

I exhaled softly through my nose. "Yes it is a part of it." I confirmed, trying to hold myself together to not talk about the book.

"I've also been made aware that you were involved with The Bertrayer, Illidan Stormrage...is that true as well?" she questioned me further.

_"Stay calm, baby girl. You can tell her the truth about us, but not about the book!"_ I heard Illidan's voice ring in my head.

"Yes." I sighed. "To answer your question from earlier, he is the father of the child I'm carrying."

My last comment made everyone's head turn to me and all I did was have a staring contest with Modera.

"How long has the pregnancy been going for?" she asked me again.

"2 and a half months." I hesitantly replied. "Who exactly are you reporting to?"

Without a shred of hesitation, she replied with one word. "Rhonin."

I shivered at the very name. "R-Rhonin? I haven't heard that name in ages!"

From what I know about Rhonin is that he was once the mentor of Illidan Stormrage when he time travelled to the time of The War of the Ancients to heal a time rift. Unfortunately, Illidan was reckless and too often, Rhonin had to clean up his mistakes and eventually, Illidan had defected. Funny thing is, Illidan made no mention of this to me but I knew of it. I just never mentioned that knowledge to him because I knew he would go on a rant about 'sacrifice' when the way I see it, he was just being an idiot. An idiot I'm pretty sure I straightened out when we met! I felt another shudder within me again and this time, I could feel the baby kicking around, as if it knew what I was thinking.

_"Ah, Rhonin. I remember him...too well."_ I heard Illidan's voice yet again in my head, his voice sounding plain in a rhetorical tone.

"Hence why I mentioned earlier that the council wanted to see you immediately." Modera reiterated. "However in this case, it's mostly Rhonin who's voiced his interest to meet with you since he knows of your relationship with Illidan, his former student. He just wants the details of how he passed."

That last remark made my heart stop a little before I shuddered, having a horrible flashback to the moment Illidan died.

**"Illidan! No! NOOOOOO!!!"**

I started to hyperventilate, every attempt to breath properly being painful and I almost fell to my knees weren't it not for a nearby Night Elf catching me and helping me stand up.

"Alyssana! Are you alright?" Modera panicked.

"Y-yes, I'm fine!" I blurted out, struggling to even speak, then I rubbed my belly as if I was trying to feel for the baby.

Thankfully, I could feel something move under my hand and I had a moment of pure joy! "Oh thank goodness you're alright!"

"Did the baby move?" Modera worried. "You really need to go Dalaran first before you go meet with Kalecgos."

"Why?" I asked her in frustration. "I know that Rhonin wants to know how Illidan died, but why do I need to go now?! I thought I said earlier that this isn't the first time I've been pregnant, it doesn't phase me!"

"Just let me teleport you to Dalaran and we'll talk then!" Modera stressed.

"You're forgetting that I'm a mage, Modera." I stated to her with sass. "I can teleport myself!"

With a quick nose sigh, I began to cast a teleportation spell to Dalaran. Once the spell was finished, I appeared in Runeweaver Square! I let out a heavy sigh, knowing how this place feels all too familiar. Then again, I grew up here as a child and now 5 years later, I never thought I'd find myself coming back here after all these years. I took my time looking around and a few mages recognised me and they happily waved at me and I waved back with a smile. As I was making my way to The Violet Citadel, I kept hearing voices talking about me. I smiled regardless because I'm above people talking about me.

_"By Antonidas' beard, is that Alyssana?"_

_"She's back? I thought she was in Outland!"_

_"I heard rumours that she killed her ex-husband?"_

_"He was a good looking guy but unfortunately, he was a part of The Cult of the Damned. I'd say he deserved it!"_

_"She looks a little round on the belly."_

I shook my head and laughed when I heard the last comment and I was at the stairs of the citadel. I took in a deep breath and let out a huge exhale, knowing how much I hated going up these stairs and it's even worse knowing I'm pregnant. I was about to take my time climbing up then I saw Modera in the flesh at the top of the stairs!

"Alyssana! Hold on, I'll bring you to the top immediately!" She shouted and she started casting a spell which formed an Arcane bubble around me and I levitated to where Modera was and the bubble popped when it hit the ground.

Modera offered a hand to help me walk but I refused, knowing I can walk on my own. Once I went inside, I saw Vereesa Windrunner, the wife of Rhonin having a chat with him while Aethas Sunreaver sat down at a nearby table and glanced up at me with wide eyes as I walked past.

"Rhonin, she's here!" he called out, interrupting Rhonin and his wife's conversation.

"Alyssana Runelight, or should I say Mrs Stormrage, you've arrived at last." the mage heartily greeted me. "Please allow me to introduce you to my wife, Vereesa Windrunner."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, mate of Illidan." Vereesa greeted me. "I've been told of your connection with him and how you were raised here in this very city. I am pleased to tell you that Belatea has been thinking about you, wondering if you were safe after all these years."

"I'm quite fine now after that panic attack I had earlier before coming here." I conversed. "So why have you specifically asked for me, Rhonin?"

"I don't mean to repeat events of the past but even though he was reckless and I'd have to fix his mistakes when he was my student, I did feel a pain in my heart knowing he was dead." Rhonin consoled. "But when I heard of his relationship with you and of your pregnancy, I feared the worst! But thankfully, I was told that you are still alive and you survived. I must know, with the soulbind of you and Illidan, can he really hear me through you?"

_"You can trust him, he's a good man."_

"Yes, he can. He just told me that you're a good man!" I replied, then I had an idea. "Would you like to speak with him?"

"Speak with him? How?" Rhonin exclaimed.

"You may want to take a step back." I cautioned him and everyone around me then I began to murmur a spell.

_"Arcane spirituum, audite me. Spiritus invoco retorsio Nec potest appellare. Spiritus invoco dalah'surfal effigiem suam."_

_Translation:_   
_"Arcane spirits, hear me now. I call upon the power to summon a spirit from the Twisting Nether. I call upon the spirit of dalah'surfal and his physical form."_

Once I finished muttering the spell, a space in front of me opened up like a rift and a purple and green orb rose up from the rift. The rift closed and the orb transformed into Illidan's Night Elf form instead of his half-night elf half-demon form! I got a good look at him now and I felt a small wet spot in my undergarments that thankfully, no one can see. Some bystanders came to see what was happening and as soon as they saw Illidan, the crowd started murmuring to themselves and Modera had to ask them all to leave as we all gathered here for a private conversation.

"Illidan, it's been too long." Rhonin acknowledged Illidan's presence.

"It has been too long, my old mentor." Illidan stated and he wrapped an arm around my left shoulder and pulled me to his side. "I'm sure you know of my mate's condition with the Fel. It is how she's able to summon me."

"So she's not only a mage?" Vereesa perplexed. "She's also-"

"A warlock at the same time." Aethas chimed in. "And we've heard of how she's able to use the Fel as well. Illidan's soulbind with her only amplified her magic. Yet, she wants to find out if she can be rid of it, does she not?"

"Not exactly, Aethas, but you were close to correct. I just want to find out if it's corruption or just an affliction that can be removed and the only way I can find out what it is, is if I find my parents who are not far from here, according to my ex husband." I explained.

"Isn't he dead?" Modera spoke up with confusion.

"No, that retched prince who sits on the Frozen Throne raised him into undeath and he's been a pain in her side for a while." Illidan growled. "I'm glad he's not around right now."

"Illidan, relax, it was only for a few days!" I laughed. "Although I did ask him to meet up with me here so we can help him."

"Why would you want to help him all of a sudden when he tried to kill you and my unborn child?" Illidan protested with an angry tone.

"Illidan, don't argue with me right now." I lectured calmly. "He's just confused and a little lost because unless you've been doing the math, he was raised into undeath **before** I returned to Azeroth! Don't turn this into an argument just because I want to at least give Ludwig a helping hand with his condition. Besides, who am I to ignore that he needs help just as much as I do?"

"Alright, you two calm down!" Rhonin shouted. "Just be happy that you two can be together while her ex-husband isn't around. Alyssana, if you're okay with it, we would like to give you a gift that I'm sure Illidan would appreciate."

"I would appreciate?" puzzled Illidan.

Rhonin just smiled and motioned for us to follow him and Vereesa into a room. In the room, it was as if I was looking at a typical room in an Inn but it was adorned with decor and a big circular bed. In the middle was a gift box in purple wrapping with a pink ribbon holding the wrapping together. I looked at Rhonin and he gestured me to open the gift box while Illidan was anxiously waiting for me to reveal the contents of the box. I undid the ribbon and the wrapping fell apart immediately and I opened the lid to see robes that looked like something a Night Elf would wear. I brought out the robe in its full glory and judging by Illidan's facial expression, he recognised it!

"My robes! Back when I was a sorcerer!" He exclaimed.

"Since Rhonin heard of your connection with Illidan, we found his old robes and made some moderations to it to fit your figure." Vereesa spoke happily. "We will give you two some privacy, it's what you deserve."

I nodded a thank you to her and Rhonin and me and Illidan were left by our lonesome in this small room. He was looking out the window and I saw his ears were drooped down a little, so I walked over to him to hold his right hand with my left hand and laced our fingers together. Earning a small hum from him, I looked at him and smiled and he sadly smiled back. He dragged me over in front of him and held me from behind, softly sliding his hands all over my belly. I gently grabbed his jawline and turned his face to me so I could kiss him lovingly and as he pulled away, I noticed his breathing was shaky and he nuzzled his forehead with mine.

"What troubles you, my love?" I asked him.

"In the Twisting Nether, I had been thinking about my decision to defend the temple." he responded in a low voice. "I've been thinking 'What if things were a little different?'"

"Would you mind sharing the details?" I asked him again, fearing what he might say next.

"What if I did let you go? Meaning, what if I had let you have a place of your own?" He discussed, letting go of my body and began walking around the room. "If you had a safe place to call home back in Outland and if I was close to defeat, I would've escaped and ran back to you! That way I could've stayed alive and you wouldn't have to go through your pregnancy on your own and before you say that you can handle it on your own, because trust me, I know you're going to say that, but think about it, Alyssana! If I was still alive, we could've gotten married by now and-"

I hushed him with a finger to his lips, instantly shutting him up. I raised my right hand to touch his cheek and I caressed it softly, immediately making him melt against my hand. "I just wish that I was still alive." He sighed heavily. "I wish I could've told my demon hunters that if they couldn't find me on the summit, that they should go to a certain place where they could find me and you, together in a little place of our own."

I wrapped my arms around him and he did the same, holding me tightly against him and nuzzling his face into my shoulder. I pulled away a little to face him again and I looked deep into his eyes. "I know you regret your decision to defend the Black Temple and I will be honest with you, if I remembered Solitude Lookout, I could've spoken up and suggested that we return to Azeroth together there where no one could find us." I snivelled, trying not to cry in front of Illidan as I could tell he was about as well. "Maybe we could've gotten married, at least after the baby was born, but this is the reality we have to go through. I may have the power of time and the power to somehow shape reality how I want it...but I can't mess up this reality because it would create a paradox of problems that probably cannot be fixed. If I could bring you back, we could take down the Lich King together, side by side but-"

"This is our reality." Illidan choked, interrupting me and I saw two wet spots on his blindfold where his eyes would be. "Alyssana, I'm so sorry. I'm really, really sorry! At the summit, I wanted to just take you in my arms and fly away somewhere where Akama and Maiev wouldn't find us but I know you'd tell me that we needed to defend the temple as we've done before."

I chuckled in a sad tone, knowing that Illidan had been thinking about escaping all this time but as we both know, it never happened. "What's done is done, Illidan. Let's just be happy that you are survived through this little one here." I giggled, pointing at my pregnant belly.

He kneeled in front of me and started kissing my belly and rubbing his forehead on it. Then as he rubbed his hand on the belly, I felt the baby kick his hand!

"Oh my-the baby!" Illidan gasped in shock then he started laughing. "Hey, what are you doing kicking my hand, huh?"

"That's not very nice!" I joked, talking to the baby inside my belly.

"Don't you think it's time to put on that robe?" Illidan mentioned, immediately reminding me of the gift Rhonin and Vereesa had given me.

I grabbed the robe and looking at a nearby mirror, I magically changed into the robe! When I looked at Illidan, all he could do was stare in awe of how well the robes fit me. He then walked over to me, wrapped his arms around my waist and abruptly brought me closer to him to the point where our bodies were touching. He leant his forehead on mine and smiled with a happy hum and I did the same, lovingly caressing his cheeks and I softly dragged my hands up and down his arms, staring into his eyes and my mouth slightly ajar due to the sensational texture of the muscles on his arms. My breathing quickened and so did his, craving each other like we did back at Valiance Keep but before anything could happen, we were interrupted by knocking at the door!

"Miss Runelight, are you alright? Did you try on the robe?" I heard Vereesa's voice, calling for me.

"Y-yes, I'll be out in a minute." I called out back, then I had a flashback from the past.

It was the very moment that I realised Illidan had captured me...

...

_"Hello? Uh miss mage, are you awake?"_

_"Uh y-yes I'm awake!"_

...

I shook my head and it wasn't until too late that I realised Illidan was gone!

_"I ran out of time to be here physically_ _, but y_ _ou can summon me as soon as tomorrow arrives! I love you, dalah'surfal and the baby too. By the way, you look absolutely stunning in my robes!"_

I groaned, knowing that I wasted my time having that flashback and I exited the room to reveal how well the robes fit on my body.

"It's perfect! You're so beautiful!" Vereesa squealed in happiness and she ran over to me. "What did Illidan think?"

"He thought I looked stunning!" I responded with a smirk. "Thank you for the new robes. However I must ask, how do you know about me and Illidan in the first place?"

"We had the fortunate message from Khadgar, who I'm surprised is still alive, he told us in a letter about your involvement with Illidan, including your pregnancy. He even mentioned about a powerful form you took on when you wanted to take down The Betrayer. I thought that Augmenta Arcana would be near-impossible to conduct unless you have complete mastery of the Arcane." Aethas spoke up, holding a letter. "He keeps referring to you as 'Archmage', but you've never had a ceremony conducted for such an honour."

"Well, I think during this time, a ceremony is not needed!" Rhonin declared. "Alyssana Runelight, from this day forward, you will be acknowledged as Archmage Runelight. A daughter of Dalaran and a loyal mate to Illidan Stormrage."

I smiled at Rhonin and some bystanders and the on-lookers outside began to applaud me as I started to walk out of The Violet Citadel.

"Oh and Alyssana?" Rhonin called out for me. "You wished to see Kalecgos, right?"

"Yes, but I can teleport there on my own. I'll be fine." I assured him.

"W-wait, Alyssana! What about the Augmenta Arcana form?!" Modera panicked. "How did you know about such a thing? And why did Aethas say that **you know how to cast it**?"

_"Dammit, thanks a lot, Aethas! You just had to open your mouth about that!"_ I thought to myself as I looked at Aethas who shrugged as I gave him a death stare.

I sighed, knowing that now I have no choice but to reveal to Modera what I've been hiding. I groaned in defeat and I showed Modera the book. " **This** is the reason why I wanted to go see Kalecgos. I feel like there's a discrepancy in the details about Augmenta Arcana, something about having the blood of a blue dragon."

She gently grabbed the book from my hands and flipped through the pages to a description about who can use the Augmenta Arcana form.

_"Only someone who has mastered the Arcane or has the blood of a blue dragon can perform this spell and take on the form of an Arcane ethereal, therefore enhancing the power of their Arcane magic and increasing it's damage."_

"How often did you take on this form?" Modera coolly asked me, looking up from the book.

"Only a couple of times!" I stated. "When I first arrived at the Black Temple to take down Illidan and during the siege of the Black Temple on the summit where I was defending it with Illidan."

"I...would be cross with you not coming forward with this information earlier, yet I think I understand why." she speculated. " **You knew** that I tossed away this book because of how **I thought** it would be deemed **impossible** to perform such a spell. But, you have proved me wrong! Perhaps there is a way to cast it, but only if the description is true that you must have mastered the Arcane or have the blood of a blue dragon in order to use this form without fail. The one thing I will ask of you is that when you're done showing this to Kalecgos that you report back here and maybe perform the spell?"

"I could, but..." I was about to respond, but I suddenly had a gut feeling that it wouldn't be a good idea.

"What is it, Alyssana? Something wrong?" Modera worried.

"Have you read through **all** of the book?" I asked her. "To the part where it cautions you about the frequent usage of Augmenta Arcana?"

I watched Modera go through the book again and as I saw her eyes scan a page, presumably the page where it warns the reader about the repeated use of the form, they widened in shock!

"Do you think you could cast it again?" Modera inquired, almost making me huff in frustration. "I'm aware of the warnings, but perhaps with a bit more research and maybe with some help from Kalecgos, we could make sure that you don't lose yourself to this form."

"When I come back, I'll try to cast it again." I concurred with a nod.

Before I started casting my teleportation spell, Vereesa and her loving husband waved a goodbye to me and I smiled at them, thankful that they were ever so kind to me ever since I arrived. I teleported myself back to Star's Rest at the archway and I summoned Darkhoof to ride towards Wrymrest Temple! I hope I can find Kalecgos there and I'm hoping he has at least **some knowledge** of this book or Augmenta Arcana.


	16. Breaking His Mental Chains (Ludwig's P.O.V)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After helping Thassarian rescue his sister and complete his mission, Ludwig returns to the Archeus with Edua to discuss his mental connection with the Lich King and how to break it off. When talking about Alyssana her decision to split up from the death knights, the Lich King attacks Ludwig through his mind and he comes to realise that he needs to exercise mental restraint and willpower in order to be completely cut off from Arthas' control.

Some time had passed after we left Thassarian by his lonesome. Me and Edua haven't come across Alyssana yet, although it's better that we don't. I keep having this slight piercing pain in my chest, every time I thought about Alyssana and when I try to ignore the pain, my head would start throbbing immensely like a migraine! We had to return to the Archeus that floated just outside of the Borean Tundra to find answers on how to significantly break the Lich King's control on my mind as clearly, I didn't have it easy unlike the other death knights who had broke free of his will with no difficulty. Edua had voiced that she didn't understand how I didn't break free of the Lich King's will and I even said that I had no clue why or how. It's not like I didn't try because I did and yet, I could still hear his voice in my head and my actions would be easily swayed by Arthas' influence! I am practicing restrain, but every time I do, all I can feel is pain. It starts out tolerable then it becomes unbearable! I was sitting at a table, going through my journal from when I was alive. I keep reading the parts where I kept swooning over Alyssana and I'd chuckle at this, knowing that part of me is still there but it's slowly subsiding.

"I think Alyssana's right." Edua sighed in defeat. "We do need to go to Dalaran and figure out how to dispel the Lich King's influence on you. I couldn't even find a book or some scroll talking about how the will of the Lich King works. Although I know how it works, I cannot put it into words! What are you reading?"

"I'm reading my old journal." I chuckled. "I still can't believe that I was so in love with her back then. Now...I'm raised into undeath to find that she's pregnant with another man's child and she left Marenus to be adopted because she couldn't live with the guilt of killing me."

"Now, now, Ludwig, try to be understanding!" Edua replied. "Let's say you were in her position. How would you feel knowing that your child will grow up and eventually they would ask you where their missing parent is? Especially when you're the one who killed them in blind rage? What emotions would you even feel? Guilt? Shame? Now think about how Alyssana felt! Think about what emotions she had to go through when she had to give away Marenus as a baby. She didn't want to but deep down, she didn't want to see her child's face burst into tears of pain and hatred for hearing that his mother killed his father what he did to her."

I couldn't look at her in the eye and she grunted, walking away to a nearby bench to grab her bag. Probably to bring out her alcohol since all she's ever done ever since she was raised into undeath was drink either beer, wine or vodka. It is true however, if I think about it, Alyssana did feel guilty for what she did. And when she summoned Illidan's physical form back at Elwynn Forest, Marenus had no problem bonding with him and being okay with what Alyssana had done to me. I guess even if Marenus knew what really happened, he wouldn't forgive me either. It took a while to notice Edua had came back with a wine bottle, as usual and I noticed that she didn't have any glasses with her! Edua has been known to drink whenever she wants but if you ever see her with a full bottle of wine, vodka or a big flask of beer, she's depression drinking.

"Are you alright?" I asked her in concern.

"Even though we're dead, some of us can still get drunk and wasted off of alcohol. It may affect us and we may not exactly taste anything, but it's something to do that's close to feeling alive." She replied, looking outside and opening her bottle of wine, taking a sip. "Unfortunately, I'm part of the percentage that cannot get drunk, so I only drink to help me think."

"I keep forgetting that I'm dead." I laughed, trying to lighten things up since I noticed that Edua is looking very depressed. "Knowing you got a full bottle of wine, what's the matter?"

She downed a huge amount of the wine and set the bottle down on the table, still holding the bottleneck. "I miss my Agronak..." she sadly sighed heavily with a sniffle, looking down and started tracing little circles on the table. "I hope he's doing okay and that he's doing well on his missions."

"I'm sure he would be. Plus, I think that when he has nothing to do, he thinks of you." I replied, reassuring her about Agronak's wellbeing, then I saw Darion walking up to us.

I noticed he wasn't wearing his helmet, so we were able to see his face in full view. His once blonde hair became a dead silvery grey, his eyes were obviously glowing an abnormal colour like all other death knights and his skin was slightly taut around his face, his cheekbones slightly protruding. He looked at Edua and patted her back, knowing that she's far away from her beloved.

"I hope I'm not intruding anything." He commented, looking at both me and Edua.

I shook my head. "No, you're not, my lord. Have a seat!" I remarked, offering him a seat at our table.

He pulled up a chair and sighed heavily. "It's been a long day for the both of you, huh?" he pondered, looking at both me and Edua.

"Yeah, bad enough that I almost got my ass kicked." I joked, although the only person that didn't take it lightly was Edua.

"No, the reason why it was long was because the Lich King almost got you killed!" she countered with a snarl.

"Edua, what do you mean by that?" Darion inquired calmly and Edua proceeded to tell Darion everything that happened, his facial expression changing from concerned to shocked within a minute. "So let me get this straight; Arthas still has some sort of control over Ludwig to the point where he can take control of his actions like a puppet? And you had to split up from Alyssana to keep her and her unborn child safe?"

"That's what happened." I admitted. "If the Lich King's motive is to get me to kill Alyssana and raise her into undeath, it would make her a powerful ally of the Scourge."

"The stories I've heard from her stay in Outland are frightening so it would make sense why Arthas wants Alyssana in his ranks." Darion pondered. "Plus, she is the mate of Illidan Stormrage, so if he's wanting to defeat Illidan once and for all, he'd have to somehow know about Alyssana's soulbind with Illidan."

Then I felt a terrible pit form in my stomach! My breathing became ragged and I felt a sharp stabbing pain in the back of my head.

_"Hahaha, how would you think I know in the first place?"_

Suddenly, a high-pitched ringing started sounding in my ears. "Fuck!!!" I shouted, standing up from the table and covering my ears. "He's in my head! He knows! He's in my head!!!"

Darion had put me in a death grip and held me in the air. "Arthas! We know you're pulling the strings within Ludwig's mind. We know what you are planning! If you think we're going to let you hurt Alyssana, you'll never get to her."

I had that feeling again, the feeling of my consciousness being drowned out by another one's conscious! I knew it was Arthas trying to take over my body again so I did everything I could to fight him.

"I...won't...let you...take over me...again!!" I struggled to speak. "I won't let you hurt her and I will never let you touch her!!!"

Darion's death grip had broke and I fell to the floor and as I landed, a small patch of ice had formed underneath me!

"Ludwig! Are you alright?" Darion asked me with concern. "Can you still hear him?"

I tried listening out for the Lich King's whispers, but I could hear nothing. I tried feeling out for him, but I couldn't sense him! Still, I worry that he may try to take over me again when I least expect it. I fought him off but yet again, I need to be on guard at all times.

"I can't feel him anymore and neither can I hear his whispers." I replied to Darion who helped me get on my feet. "But I must find a way to make sure he permanently stays out of my mind. I know you've all done so very easily, but even when I was alive, he always had a hold on me."

"Now that you're undead, his hold on you became more powerful and yet even when you broke from his control, he still has some kind of mental influence on you." Edua spoke up, agreeing with my explanation. "Alyssana had told us to meet up with her in Dalaran and even if she's not there, we still have to find a way to help Ludwig."

"Hmm..." Darion mumbled to himself. "The only thing I can tell you, Ludwig, is that any time you feel that the Lich King is about to take control, you must strengthen your willpower to block him out of your mind and potentially break his hold on you. Even if you can't find answers in Dalaran, the only way to truly break free from the Lich King is to have enough willpower to prevent him from taking over your mind."

I nodded in agreement and I looked over to the table and saw an opened envelope with the Alliance wax signet on it! "So does the Alliance need our aid for something?" I asked Darion.

"Correct! In fact, it's more of an inquiry for aid at Wintergarde Keep." He replied, picking up the envelope and handing it over to me. "The Alliance is having trouble with the Scourge over there so here's my reply with your names on it. I want you and Edua to go over there and help them in any way you can and you are to report to High Commander Halford Wyrmbane. He's in charge of the assault to the Scourge."

Darion had gestured me to return the Alliance letter in exchange for his letter of reply and I motioned Edua to pack her things so we could get going.

"Ludwig..." Darion spoke up. "...if you happen to see Alyssana on your way there, tell her that our scouts have encountered her parents."

"What?!" I exclaimed quietly. "You mean her parents are alive?! Where are they?"

"You need to warn her! Her parents aren't to be trusted." Darion simply replied. "That's all I can tell you. The rest she'll have to find out for herself. Get on a bird and head swiftly to Wintergarde Keep."

As much as I wanted to argue, I bowed to Darion and said my farewells to him before heading off. Both me and Edua were able to get on undead gryphons and we started our flight towards the Keep, avoiding any dragons or what not that could harm us. As we were flying, I looked down to see a familiar black horse running towards a massive tower. Could it be Alyssana?

"That must be Wyrmrest Temple!" I called out to Edua. "Hey, I think I see Alyssana! Darion told me to warn her about her parents! They're apparently not to be trusted! I don't know why, but Darion tells me that she'll understand why if she meets them!"

"We could warn her now and risk the Lich King taking over your mind and body again or we can push forward to Wintergarde Keep and focus on fighting the Scourge and to practicing your willpower to fight the Lich King's control!" Edua sassed at me. "Besides, Darion did say she should find out the truth on her own, so let her make her own judgements. If they harm her, you'll know when we meet her again."

I scoffed and focused my gryphon to keep flying towards Wintergarde Keep! I will admit, I did try to make an excuse to be next to Alyssana again but I know that if I did, Edua would catch on to my true motive. I know Alyssana's moved on completely...yet I still can't bear the heavy weight of not being her husband anymore. I'm trying to adjust, but it can't exactly happen overnight! I only found out about Alyssana moving on a few days ago before we came here and a lot more about her later on. Knowing she left my son behind to escape the guilt of killing me doesn't sit right with me...then again, I have to remember **the reason why she killed me**. I did open the suggestion of the Lich King manipulating my mind and body, but to tell her directly about what truly happened **that night** would send her in a craze! Shaking my head to stop myself from thinking too much, we had made it to Wintergarde Keep and as we landed, we saw a floating citadel hovering over The Carrion Fields! I recognised that building straight away as Naxxramas. After getting off of our undead gryphons, me and Edua already got suspicious looks from the living. We even saw High Elves from the Silver Covenant around here too which meant that they're here to aid the Alliance as well. We were walking towards a barricaded area looking downhill upon the rest of the Keep which was run amok with the undead Scourge. Edua gently backhanded my forearm to signal me to a man's attention. He was completely covered in bronze armor from head to toe and he was sporting the Stormwind tabard as well!

"So, the Ebon Blade has sent aid after all." He scoffed, looking at Edua and then me. "Very well, I'll keep this very brief. Lord Bolvar Fordragon has led a crushing assault against Arthas at the Wrathgate. In response to this affront, Arthas has sent Naxxramas down upon us. While Kel'Thuzad hides in the floating citadel, his ground command, Thel'zan, lays siege to Wintergarde Keep. The lower village is already lost and any chance of extracting survivors from the ruins diminishes by the minute. We need to act quickly! You two report to Gryphon Commander Urik and he'll get you up to speed on things. Leave me be!"

I raised my eyebrows at this guy and just nodded then me and Edua made our way back to where we landed. "Seriously? We just got off a goddamn flight to take to the skies again?" I complained to Edua.

"Calm down, Ludwig. It's only for now!" She replied.

We met with Urik and he gave us a mission to save a handful of survivors in the lower village. With both me and Edua working together to save the helpless villagers, we were able to save more than a handful of citizens from The Carrion Fields. Once we were done, we headed back to Wyrmbane to give him the good news.

"Outstanding, soldier! With the saved townsfolk and them getting back to work, we'll get this town built back up and fortified in no time. Before long, reinforcements will be ready to join the fight with Lord Fordragon at the Wrathgate." He effused and then he cleared his throat. "I'm getting ahead of myself and I apologise for that. If you have the time, would you mind helping the villagers around this area to get their things together and whatever they need?"

Before I could answer, Edua beat me to the punch. "Of course, High Commander! I'd be glad to do so!" She replied with a bow and nudged my arm to follow her. "You need to make your way to Dalaran without me. While you were talking to Darion back at the Archeus, I had heard news that Agronak is at the Wrathgate and he's being belittled by the Horde, no matter how much strength he shows off."

"So you're going to stay here? What about Arthas? What if he takes over my mind again?" I panicked quietly to Edua.

She gave me a stern look and put a hand on my shoulder. "Ludwig, like Darion said, you need to practice willpower and start building a mental defence that not even the Lich King can get through. Get to Dalaran and find a mage named Rhonin, he's the one you should be talking to about what's going on with you."

I simply nodded and made my way back to the Gryphon station and asked for a direct flight to Dalaran. As I took flight, I felt the Lich King try to reach out into my mind and heeding Darion's words, I summoned the will to block Arthas out of my mind, preventing him from seeping into my psyche. I had to close my eyes for this and trusting the gryphon to not drop me, I had a mental image of me striking at Arthas with my runeblade and I opened my eyes, gasping for air as if my lungs started working again! I tried feeling for the Lich King's presence in my mind and I felt nothing. I tried sensing for his presence...still nothing! It's still too early to tell if he's no longer able to reach into my mind, but if I keep this up, I won't have to worry about hurting Alyssana. I thought about turning my gryphon around to go to Wyrmrest Temple, yet I had to remind myself that I need to take care of myself first before rejoining Alyssana...if she lets me of course. That being said, I also have to get with the program of her being glued to Illidan, however I worry about her mentality as she's soul bound to Illidan. Hasn't she given thought to what might happen if it breaks? I'll have to ask around Dalaran for more information on soul binds because I have come to believe that Illidan may not be telling Alyssana **everything** she should know. Although, I have a hunch that the reason why Illidan is not telling Alyssana about the consequences of the soul bind is because he doesn't want to lose her if she has a negative reaction. I may be a death knight, but I dearly and desperately pray that he does indeed tell her that there is a consequence for their soul bind, at least when it's not too late. As I thought about Alyssana and worrying about her health, I found myself flying near Dalaran, the city of magic and where Alyssana grew up. I remember her telling me stories of how she was bullied during her studies here because of her heritage. It breaks my undead heart knowing how children and teenagers can be so cruel to one another for even the smallest and harmless of flaws. I shook my head and focused on landing the gryphon on a large platform that was a part of the city. When I got down from the gryphon's saddle, I got mixed reactions from the citizens of Dalaran but I wasn't too bothered. I walked through an archway which led me down some stairs and I ended up at a small garden with a fountain in the middle and it felt and looked all too familiar! I shook off the feeling and went to go look for the Inn within this city. Whilst I was walking around the city, I heard whispers from the citizens as I passed them by.

_"Is that Ludwig Holton?"_

_"I remember him! Didn't he used to be with that mage who came here?"_

_"So it's true, she really did kill him! Just look at those burns on his face! She did a number on him!"_

_"It wasn't fire magic that killed him though, wasn't it?"_

The whispers became too much to bear that I didn't realise that I ended up at the Inn. I walked in and again, I had mixed reactions from the people in the building. I simply sighed and asked the Innkeeper to check me in and she enchanted my Hearthstone. I went upstairs to find my room and once I did, I locked my door, dropped my satchel and fell onto my bed that felt comfy to lay on. The undead don't sleep...although I found myself drifting off and my eyelids became heavy when I yawned. That rider I saw when I was going to Wintergarde Keep must've been Alyssana because I remember that she had a black horse named Darkhoof. Then again, it could've been anyone with a regular black horse, but I find my mind drifting towards the revelation that it could be Alyssana. I still have to think about how I'm going to tell her what happened **that night** and if I don't get it off my chest sooner or later, it's going to eat me up inside like a maggot feeding off of a dead carcass...


	17. Her Closure (Alyssana's P.O.V)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After leaving Dalaran, Alyssana heads for Wyrmrest Temple to seek out a Blue Dragon named Kalecgos. Little does she know that she's about find out so much more about her past when two Forsaken are wandering the halls of the temple, claiming that they're trying to find a long lost relative who they believe could still be alive.

As I rode Darkhoof onto the footpath, we came across a snowy wasteland filled with giant dragon bones. There were plenty of Magnataurs, plagued animals as well as a mix of Frostbrood and Blue Dragons in the air just flying about until they spot someone to kill for fun. I wouldn't want to run into them so I cast an enchantment on both me and Darkhoof to be invisible to dragon's eyes and once I get to Wyrmrest Temple, I will have to remove the enchantment. Once I calmed myself down and patted my pregnant belly softly, I motioned for Darkhoof to race across the snowy wasteland to head for the Temple. As Darkhoof was putting in his best effort to get to the Temple as fast as he could, I looked up at the sky to see two people riding undead gryphons! They must be Death knights, hopefully from The Ebon Blade, probably riding towards somewhere to their next mission. I encouraged Darkhoof to try and go faster and he obeyed, going faster than usual! We were able to avoid the dragons and other creatures that would harm us and as soon as we reached the Temple, I removed the enchantment and climbed down off of Darkhoof. I opened a portal to the Stormwind stables and Darkhoof grunted at me as he was saying farewell and he went through the portal. He deserves a good rest after all that riding he had to do! I was about to walk into the temple but I was stopped by a high elf which I immediately realised was a red dragon due to the smaller red dragons flying idly close to him.

"Excuse me weary traveller, but may I ask about your reason for coming here?" He asked politely. "Every aspect and representative from every Dragonflight is currently in a meeting at the top of this Temple, so I apologise for any inconvenience."

"I came here looking for a Blue Dragon named Kalecgos." I answered him. "Is he a part of the meeting as well?"

"Yes, unfortunately he is." The elf dragon sighed. "Wait a minute, you're Alyssana Runelight! What are you doing all the way out here in the cold lands of Northrend? Knowing that you're carrying a child of course!"

"Word travels pretty fast around Azeroth, huh? I'm here in Northrend on orders from King Wrynn to aid in defeating the Lich King. He also said that if this mission gets too much for me that I can go back home and wait until I give birth to my child." I explained to the elf dragon.

"I see. Well, allow me to introduce myself! I'm Tariolstrasz, the Steward of Wyrmrest Temple." He greeted me. "If you have time, you may wait for Kalecgos to be finished with the meeting and you can rest for a while too. Allow me to escort you to a room so you can gather your bearings and stay a while."

"Thank you, Tariolstrasz, it's a pleasure to meet you!" I giggled with a respectful bow. "Indeed, I think I should rest for a little while. Even in the first trimester, I wasn't **this weary**!"

"From what I've heard of, you're the mate of Illidan Stormrage." He spoke up. "And if I'm correct, this isn't your first pregnancy hence why you can handle yourself with ease."

"That is true." I agreed. "However, when he died, I kept blaming myself for his sacrifice to save us. I have realised that it's not my fault and that I should never blame myself, but I still feel horrible knowing that my child will have to grow up without knowing it's father. Yet again, I can't say such things like that when I deprived my son, my first child the knowledge of what really happened to his father."

"But back then, you had every valid reason to get rid of him! Like you said, what happened this time is **not your fault**. Illidan made the choice to sacrifice himself to save you and your child because he wanted a future for the both of you!" he noted. "And your son knows of what happened to his father right?"

"Yes, he does now!" I replied.

"Well, what exactly are you worried about? Are you worried that your child will blame you for its father being absent from its life?" the red dragon coaxed calmly.

I felt a tug on my heart and I steered my gaze to the ground in shame. "Y-yes..." I admitted.

"Alyssana, I may not be a parent but if you find the right words, **you can help your child understand** why Illidan is not around as it grows up." he comforted me and gestured me to move into a room that had a double bed, two nightstands and a candle to light at night. "I know you would never lie to your own child about what you're going through and you would never lie to them about anything."

"Of course, I would never lie to my child about Illidan's whereabouts. I can never bring myself to lie to my own children because they deserve to know everything about the world and its people around them. Both the good and bad things about the world and it's society of people as well." I affirmed as I sat down on the bed to face Tariolstrasz.

"That's the mindset that almost everyone is afraid of having when they have children." he commented, leaning on the doorway with his arms crossed. "We know that children have a way of seeing the world as if it's in sunshine and rainbows and that most parents would want to keep it that way, but children deserve to know that not everything is as bright and colourful as they imagine the world to be."

"Exactly!" I exclaimed. "They deserve to know that there are people in this world who are sick, twisted, perverted and just downright evil enough to want to bring harm and ruin to them and to others around them, family and friends alike. So either we bring them up to not know the dangers of the world and they'll get hurt or worse or raise them to always be on guard and maybe have the chance of survival if someone were to harm them. Children are so precious but this world is so messed up that you can almost never trust anyone anymore."

The red dragon in its elven form smiled and clapped a little at my speech. "I genuinely hope that your son and your unborn child know that they have an amazing mother." he complimented. "Don't forget to also teach them to always be kind and caring to others, at least to an extent."

"If they come across someone who is keen on harming them, they should learn how to defend themselves. If no one will teach them, then we as parents of said child should be the ones teaching them to fight back." I replied with a smile.

"I shall take my leave and let you be. I need to tend to the entrance for any other travellers that may come here." He stated. "I'll be sure to send for someone to let Kalecgos know that you're here."

I nodded at Tariolstrasz and waved goodbye at him as he went away. Once I knew he was completely gone, I let out a huge sigh and opened my satchel to bring out some things to set onto one nightstand and I noticed that there was a small desk in the corner of the room. I grabbed the tome that was given to me by Illidan and I sat down at the desk to take a proper read of it. Before I could open it though, I took another look at the cover that was scratched out with a dagger, thanks to Modera and I carefully inspected the symbol that was on the book. It had a triangle facing upwards to the upper-right and a cross under the base of the triangle and I immediately recognised it as the rune of Empowerment. I was also able to make out some of the words surrounding the rune;

** "Physical Augmented Forms of Magic" **

When I saw this, I felt my eyes widening knowing what it meant. It means that this book didn't only contain the Etheralis Arcanis form, but maybe there were others? I started going through the book, page by page and realised that there was more forms like Etheralis Arcanis! I saw sketches of every magic form, starting with a humanoid covered from head to toe in a blue light with ice shards floating around them. Another one covered in flames, obviously depicting a Fire magic form. There were many more all under the name of the chapter being "Forms of Magic - recorded so far.". From that title alone, I could tell that there could be more forms to discover in the near or far future! With all this new information getting to my head, causing me to have a slight headache, I closed the book and put it back in my bag. Then, I overheard two people talking! Both of them sounded a little husky and my door was only a crack opened! Closing up my bag and being sneaky, I looked into the crack of the door to see outside and I saw two Forsaken, both male and female conversing with each other.

 _'What's the Horde doing here?'_ I thought to myself.

I had to put my personal thinking aside as even though I hated being ' **that woman** ', their conversation intrigued me!

"How are we supposed to fit in with the world if they're going to view us as monsters?" the female Forsaken sobbed.

"We shouldn't be worrying about that right now, my wife." the male Forsaken consoled his undead wife.

_'Aww, they're husband and wife? Even in death, they had each other!'_

"I know, we should be focusing on finding our daughter." the female sniffled. "I can't believe we had to send her away when she was just a small little thing. **She was only a newborn** , Duron! We could've at least ran away with her!"

"We couldn't get away in the end, Amari." Duron sighed. "It all happened so fast after I got her out of there."

"What you shouldn't have done is **tip them off about the cult's location** , so we wouldn't be like this!" Amari bawled as if she was about to start an argument with her husband.

Hearing this conversation made me tear up a little, knowing how much pain they must be in. I continued listening;

"Amari, I won't go through this argument again!" Duron groaned. "I told you, I had an escape planned for us both, but we got unlucky when a random Paladin killed us both! This is our second chance, my love! The Banshee Queen gave us this chance to find our daughter together. Sylvanas doesn't know that but she did say that whatever we choose to do is our own will, but when we are called to battle, we must obey our duties to her as part of the Horde."

I stopped listening after that because it didn't intrigue me anymore. I waited for them to walk out of the area and I started to follow them, staying 20 feet away from them. It was then I picked up on their conversation again;

"I do hope that she's still alive." Amari commented to Duron. "I don't think I could bear the pain if she's-"

"Darling, of course she would still be alive!" Duron interrupted his wife abruptly. "If anything, she's probably all grown up by now and **still living in Dalaran**."

_'Dalaran? They sent their daughter to Dalaran?'_

"What if she thinks that we're monsters due to our...current situation?" Amari sniffled.

"Well first off, my wife and love of my undead life, we'll just have to somehow get a message through to her without alerting her that we're Forsaken and part of the Horde." Duron comforted Amari with a big sigh. "Besides, I'm still trying to come up with a formula to slow down our decay rate! You almost lost your kneecap last year and I literally had to get sinew and sew it back onto your bone! Plus, who knows if she's still living in Dalaran!"

_'These two are obviously nuts about looking for their lost child who is probably an adult now, but I have to admit, their love for one another, no pun intended, is never-ending!'_

I kept following them until they were about to summon their transport and they flew out of the area to go to the upper reaches of the Temple I believe. I sighed heavily and started making my way back to my room until I heard someone call my name!

"Alyssana!" shouted a loud deep voice.

I turned around and saw a blue dragon fly down to a balcony platform and transform into a human with a nice muscular build and he had blue hair and light blue eyes that glowed.

"I've been told of your arrival by the steward! We've all been expecting you!" he greeted me gleefully. "I go by the name Kalecgos, but you can call me Kalec!"

I smiled and bowed down to him respectfully. "It's an honour to meet you, Kalec. So the other dragonflights up there were expecting me?" I asked him. "I was specifically asking for you because I just wanted to ask a simple question."

"Well ask me then!" he laughed.

"I'll have to show you since what I'm asking about is in an entry in a book I acquired from my late partner." I began. "Walk with me, the book is in my satchel."

Kalec nodded in agreement and we both walked to my room and I grabbed the book out of it and gave it to Kalec who immediately became wide eyed.

"Where did you get this? I've been looking everywhere for it!" he sputtered, admiring the cover of the book. "What the-who wrecked the cover art? They will pay for this! You didn't do it, did you?"

"No, heavens no, Kalec! I wouldn't do that to a book!" I exclaimed, trying to calm him down. "That was Modera's doing! Did you lose this book or something?"

Kalec then had a nervous look on his face and half-chuckled. "I may have dropped it in my dragon form?" he nervously spilled.

I could've laughed out loud but I facepalmed myself and covered my mouth as I let out a sigh through my nose and a groan that was muffled by my hand. "You really need to take better care of your things, Kalec." I huffed, removing my hand from my mouth so I could speak. "Anyway, getting back to the subject, as I've said before, I got the book from Illidan Stormrage after he had seen me undergo one of the forms in the book."

"What?!" Kalec gasped. "Which one?"

I gestured Kalec to show me the book and flipped through the pages to find Augmenta Arcana. "Here, this is the form I took on when I was supposed to kill Illidan. I wanted to ask about a certain quote in an entry about Etherealis Arcanis."

Kalec looked at the quote I pointed at;

_"This form can only be achieved by a mage who's perfected the Arcane and/or has the blood of a Blue Dragon."_

"Oh this?" he perplexed, slightly tilting his head to the side.

"I want to know if that quote was valid from when it was written and if it's still correct information to this day." I puzzled, tilting my head to the side a little.

"Yes, of course it's valid!" Kalec chuckled.

"Really?" I gasped, shooting my eyes open wide.

"Yes this quote wouldn't be written as a mistake because well, let's just say that some dragons would rather mingle with other living beings than with other dragons." he explained.

"So there's a possibility that there could be half dragons out there?" I questioned him again, being interested by the subject alone.

"Or living beings with blood so diluted that you'd have to be a smart cookie to take a DNA test of their blood to find evidence of a dragon influencing the genes of said living being." he bantered. "So that was all you wanted to ask me? Nothing else?"

"At first, yes, but now I have another question. In the book, it gives off a caution for any of the forms that can be cast in the book. I must know something..." I replied.

"Does it have something to do with Etherealis Arcanis?" Kalec hinted, seeing how I was staring at the sketch of Etherealis Arcanis in the book.

I nodded and then I spoke. "Has there been any record of someone actually using this form too many times until they completely lost their mind?" I asked him. "I've read the caution that overuse of the Etherealis Arcanis form can cause drastic psychological damage."

It took a little moment for Kalec to think. "There is...someone. But he's been dead for so long!" he answered. "However, I do know that he had a son who is a half-dragon, bore from a High Elf. His name is Fellarigos. Unfortunately, we have no idea about his whereabouts since he's also a very smart dragon who knows how to cover his tracks. Then again, for a half-born, he's very intelligent! But as I've said, I have no clue where he could be found, but I'll send out a message for you for if we do find his whereabouts."

"Thank you, Kalec. I'm not sure if I could've found this information on my own!" I thanked the blue dragon and he closed the book and gave it back to me.

Then I felt a sudden movement within my womb! "Whoa, whoa! Uhh, little baby are you okay?"

"How long have you been pregnant for your little one to be having this much activity?" Kalec laughed.

"2 and a half months!" I answered him. "I hope nothing's wrong for it to have this much energy in the womb."

When I thought about the baby, I instantly thought about Illidan. He's been quiet for a while...I pray nothing went wrong in the Twisting Nether?!

_"My love..."_

_'Speak of the fucking devil himself!'_

_"Are you alright? Sorry for the silence, I was also listening to Kalec talk about Etherealis Arcanis!"_

_'Dammit, Illidan!'_

_"My love, you're not mad at me are you?"_

_'No, of course not, I just wish your timing was a bit more better! When you spoke, you scared the living shit out of me, that's all.'_

_"I'm sorry, my love. I'll let you know of my presence next time!"_

_'It's okay, my big demonic softy, you didn't mean to scare me. I love you!'_

"Uhhh...Alyssana, are you alright?" Kalec wondered and then he started waving his face in front of me. "Hello! Azeroth to Alyssana, come in! Is anybody in there?"

I gasped in shock as I snapped back to reality! "Shit, sorry Kalec! I got stuck in my head for a moment there!"

"Were you talking to Illidan?" he chuckled and I gave him weird look and he knew what I was about to ask him next. "Chromie told us if you were going to ask."

"Yeah, he was listening in on our conversation. I guess he wanted to know more about Etherealis Arcanis too." I replied, trying to hold in the fact that I was shaking like a leaf.

"You miss him, don't you?" Kalec asked me, motioning me to sit down on my bed. "Since you're able to summon him in the physical world for a short time, I'll give you two some privacy and-"

"I've already used my magic for that. I can only use so much magic at this moment." I interrupted him, slowly and softly rubbing my belly to soothe the baby. "It's weird because when I was pregnant with my first child, I didn't have this much difficulty performing my magic! It's either that or this friggin child is an attention seeker or...it could be draining my ability to use magic efficiently!"

"Maybe because the child is of a different species that it's taking more of a toll on you?" he suggested. "It's a better thought than the worst one."

I knew what he meant by that last comment. It would devastate me if I were to miscarry, but I don't want to think about that at the moment.

"Actually, why don't I take you to Alexstrasza?" Kalecgos suggested. "She is the Life-Binder after all, and maybe she'll be able to sense if there's something amiss with the child."

"That is a good idea! I just hope nothing's wrong..." I agreed with a slight worried tone in my voice.

I walked out of my room with Kalec to the platform where he came from. He had transformed into a dragon and I was able to mount him and he flew me to the top of Wyrmrest Temple, avoiding the hostile blue and azure dragons. Kalecgos flew to an area and I had help getting down from the dragon and he transformed back into his human form. I saw the two Forsaken that I heard talking to each other earlier and once they saw me, Duron had a weirded out look on his face, as if he was trying to figure me out. Amari stared at me, too and I did my best to ignore them as I followed Kalec to meet Alexstrasza.

"Hey Chromie!" I waved at the small gnome and she giggled waving back.

"Welcome, Alyssana! It's an honour to meet such a powerful mage!" Alexstrasza greeted me with open arms.

"Alexstrasza, we need your help with a little something." Kalec spoke up, interrupting me from introducing myself. "Alyssana had a little contraction earlier due to her pregnancy but we're worried that something may be wrong with the baby."

Alexstrasza nodded quickly and she came towards me and held out her hand in front of my belly. A soft yellow glow was emanating from her hand and a smile formed on her face and she laughed a little.

"There's nothing to worry about, mate of Illidan! Your child is simply very active within the womb and they're alert to the environment around you." The life binder chuckled. "I can tell that when they come to this world, they're going to be full of energy."

"Thank you, Alexstrasza. I was worried that something was wrong, but it turns out I was right about it wanting attention." I laughed, looking down at my belly and rubbing it. "I apologise if I'm interrupting anything here."

"Oh no, it's alright!" she forgave. "We were just having a conversation with those two Forsaken over there. They're looking for their daughter and they're obviously very distraught, poor souls. They looked everywhere for her, starting from Dalaran and then here. Obviously, they can't go looking for her in Alliance territory as their daughter is a human."

"I overheard those two talking outside of my room on the previous floor." I confided with her quietly. "I know their pain. I'm looking for my parents and so far, I haven't had any luck finding them..."

"What if you were to talk to them?" The life binder wondered and before she could say more, a stray blue dragon started to attack the temple out of nowhere!

Both Amari and Duron kept throwing Fireballs at the blue dragon, but they kept missing as the blue dragon was very agile. I caught a glimpse of Fel cracks on both faces of Duron and Amari and I heard Illidan's voice boom in my head.

_"Alyssana, look at their faces!!! The Fel cracks on their faces! It looks just like yours!!!"_

Then it hit me like an iron cannonball to the chest! Whenever I felt the Fel within my veins start to burn, I have been told that Fel cracks appeared all over my face! If both Duron and Amari have the same cracks...

"Alyssana, look out!" I heard Kalec shout and it snapped me out of my thoughts and I deflected an ice ball that was being hurled at me with an Arcane blast and it hit the agile blue dragon, slowing it down!

I felt Duron and Amari's gaze fall upon me and I took a deep breath and exhaled softly. I focused on amplifying my magic and I felt myself start to levitate off the ground slightly. I closed my eyes to concentrate on my Fel magic that began to burn within my veins and I felt a cooling yet burning sensation on my face. Once I opened my eyes, all I could see was Fel green and I came back on the ground on my feet and I looked at Duron and Amari who had a shocked look on their faces!

"Alyssana!" Kalec shouted at me. "Are you sure about this?"

I turned to him and nodded and raised my hands in the air. "Warglaives congredere!" I shouted and the two warglaives that Illidan had made for me appeared in my hands. "Fel incitato!" The warglaives began to glow with fiery Fel magic and I felt two nudges on my back! I realised that I had grown wings, almost identical to Illidan's!

_"Use my wings, dalah'surfal! You'll need them to take down that dragon, quickly!"_

I let out a fierce war cry and I ran to the hostile blue dragon and jumped in the air and landed on the its scaly back! It started to roar uncontrollably and I hung on while it tried to shake me off! I caught another glimpse of Amari and Duron watching me in fear and I could tell what Amari was saying as I could read her lips...

_**"It's her..."** _

I focused on the blue dragon that was flailing wildly and I dug my blades, gleaming with Fel magic deep into it's back. It let out a pained roar and with another war cry, I slashed it's wings completely off, searing its flesh and when it started to lose altitude, I jumped off just in time and flapped my wings to help give me a smoother landing back on the temple floor. I watched the dragon fall and crash into the snow and it alerted the other blue and azure dragons that kept swirling around the temple, trying to look for an opening to attack. They were about to come after me until once again, I felt the Fel starting to burn within my body! I looked at everyone and after I magically put away my glaives, I gestured them to cover their ears. Kalec got the hint and shouted for everyone to cover their ears and with a deep breath, I let out a loud shriek, like the one I made when Illidan died in front of me! The sound was so loud that it made the blue and azure dragons fly away quickly. Once they were gone, everyone on the temple floor applauded me and my Fel Demon form faded away. I suddenly felt lightheaded and immediately conjured a mana cookie to replenish my mana since the form I just took out took a lot out of me and I regained my focus. I tried sensing for the baby and it was fine, still healthy! Alexstrasza and other dragonflight representatives, including Chromie and Kalec surrounded me to make sure I was okay and they kept complimenting me on how I used my Fel magic.

"My goodness, Alyssana! I didn't think you'd be this powerful!" Kalec exclaimed. "If Illidan's listening, you taught her well! Especially since you're pregnant, you can still protect yourself and fight and that is amazing yet bizarre."

"Kalec, I had to fight off Horde lackeys trying to invade my home and I was full term on my first pregnancy." I boasted with a laugh. "Is everyone alright? I didn't make anyone's ears bleed?"

"No, we're fine! That was impressive what you did!" Chromie answered cheerfully. "Even when pregnant, you can still perform such powerful magic at an amazing rate!"

"Illidan did well with you, that's for sure." Alexstrasza chimed in. "Considering that he's also taught you how to use your Fel magic effectively, you were able to control yourself back there! That's what you have trouble with sometimes, right?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure how long I can keep it up though." I added. "When I find my parents, maybe they can explain what's going on with me."

"How did you acquire such power?" a voice spoke aloud, causing the representatives to step away to reveal Duron and Amari.

Now that I got a **clearer** look at them, I could tell how dead they really were! Duron was mostly skin and bones but his eyes glowed a Fel green and Amari was the same except her eyes were glowing purple. Duron had long dead brown hair and Amari had dark brown hair in high pigtails. They both had steel jaw replacements and I could tell Amari had a limp in her step because her kneecap was sewn into her left leg and the stitches were visible.

"Uhh, incase you didn't hear us from before-" I began.

"I know, I heard what you said! But what I really want to know is where did you come from?" Duron interrupted me, asking me a question.

"Dalaran." I answered.

"How did you get to Dalaran in the first place?" he asked me again. "Where did you **really** come from?!"

"I was rescued from a cult by a mage and he brought me to Dalaran." I answered, slightly annoyed.

Before Duron could interrogate me further, Amari laid a hand on his bony shoulder and pulled him back a little. "My love, please be gentle with her. Remember that she's pregnant? Think back to when I was pregnant, when we were still alive! I was getting yelled at by my father because I was screwing around with you of all people, since he didn't like you at all and you defended me, saying to him to never induce stress onto a pregnant woman as it would cause her to go into labour early." she explained to him, trying to calm him down.

I saw Duron smile at Amari and he held her skeletal hand tenderly and lovingly. "Brave lady, what was the name of the cult that you were born from? If you were told of course." Amari asked me with a gentle tone. 

Being thankful for her gentleness, I replied. "The Shadow Fel Eyes cult. I was told that my parents were a part of it. Why?"

Amari looked at Duron with a loving smile and he sighed and faced me. "We saw before you transformed that you had Fel cracks on your face. You see, the Shadow Fel Eyes cult has a special way of knowing if someone is from that cult. The facial Fel markings is how you'd know! It's also a way to tell which member is part of which family." he began to explain. "The 'Fel fissures' we shall call it from now on, when they appear on our faces, they come with an assortment of patterns! If a member of the cult has the same patterns as another, they are from the same family either as spouses, siblings and etcetera."

"When it comes to spouses, dearie, their Fel fissures are two different patterns at the start obviously, but depending if the couple is male and female, when the female conceives their first child, both husband and wife's Fel fissure patterns match up!" Amari chimed in, adding more information to Duron's explanation. "For same sex couples, when they marry, their patterns match up immediately as soon as they're pronounced as 'married'."

I was able to take in their information, then I suddenly had an idea! I conjured a mirror for the three of us to look into and I realised that I was slightly taller than them since they're hunched over. "How does one get the Fel fissures to show up on their face?" I asked them.

"Either you do it passively, meaning that you get it to show on demand or when you're thinking about someone that you know is in danger like a family member, loved one or friend." Amari explained again.

"Or sometimes when you're absolutely furious." Duron muttered, loud enough for me to hear.

They both squinted their eyes and the Fel fissures began to show on their faces! I noticed a hole in their Fel fissures was on their right cheeks, close to their jaws. I tried to do the same thing, squinting my eyes, but I couldn't get my Fel fissures to show up! 

"You can do it, Alyssana." Kalec spoke up, supporting me.

"Gah, I can't get it to show unless I get angry!" I growled.

"Relax, Alyssana. If you can't get it on demand, think about someone important to you." Duron advised me, patting my back softly. "Focus on them. Think about how much you cherish them in your life. If it's someone who has passed away, use your grief from their death and focus on that."

I had a moment where I felt as if time had stopped again. I closed my eyes and I started to think about Marenus and how much I've missed him for 5 years. I felt pain and guilt overcome me, but I couldn't get the Fel markings to appear on my face. Then...I thought about Illidan and I had that flashback again to when he died in front of me. The way he reached up for my right cheek to wipe my tears, the way he spoke weakly as he was dying, the way he called me all those cute little nicknames and finally, I thought about how badly I wish that he was still alive. That's when the tears started to run and feeling my heart break again, I cried out in anguish, the Fel fissures shown through! I felt a notch in my throat when I realised upon closer inspection...the patterns were the same as Duron's and Amari's! I turned to face them and they both had sad smiles on their faces.

"M-mom? D-dad?" I sobbed and Amari had tears in her eyes and started to cover her mouth, trying to muffle her whimper. "Mom! Dad!"

With that last remark, we all got into a tight group hug and I cried even more. I finally found them...my parents! Even I could hear my mother crying as well with joy!

"I've been looking for you guys for so long! I thought you abandoned me and didn't care about me!" I bawled, my tears wetting my entire face.

I pulled away from them to wipe my face from my tears. "No, we always cared about you! You never left our thoughts even as we died and we would never abandon you! The moment we were killed, we thought something horrible would've happened to you." Dad sniffled, trying to hide his tears. "I'm not a crier, I'm just very emotional for an undead!"

The whole room bursted out laughing as well as me and my parents at that last statement. Once we all calmed down from laughing, I felt the baby start kicking again! "Oof! Oh, you want to say hello to your grandparents?" I laughed, looking down at my belly and then I looked at my parents who had a big smile on their faces. 

My mother immediately rushed in, putting her facial cheeks on my belly, nuzzling it. "Ooh hello, grandchild!" she effused. "I heard that you are very active and causing your mama so much trouble!"

"Looks someone's going to start knitting some baby clothes and I won't hear the end of baby names either." Dad chuckled.

"Oh come on, Duron, you were over the moon when I was pregnant with her!" Mother exclaimed, standing up and looking at Dad whilst pointing at me. "You wouldn't stop with the names!"

"Shadeflames!" a voice boomed in the room and we all turned to see an armored Orc with the Orgrimmar tabard. "You two are needed back at Agmar's Hammer."

"We will report there immediately, Throtorn." Dad replied with a salute.

As the Orc left the room, Mother put her hand on my right shoulder. "Looks like we'll have to catch up some other time, Lithie." she apologised with a sad smile and she went over to Dad's side.

"Lithie?" I perplexed, knowing that they called me a different name. 

"Auralithia...that was your given name when you were born." Dad added, holding Mother close to him by wrapping his bony arm around her. "But I suppose you've grown to be called Alyssana, so it's fitting we address you by that name from now on."

I smiled at Dad, knowing that it will be a while until I see him and Mother again. "Please be safe!" I sniffled, trying to hold in my tears. "Both of you! I would very much prefer that I have the chance to see you again so I can tell you everything!"

"Of course, darling. We will find our way back to you." Mother replied. "We'll try sending a message to you when we can."

"We'll meet you in Dalaran when we have the time." Dad stated, holding my mother's hand. "The one thing I'll leave you with is that we're also hunting down the remnants of the Shadow Fel Eyes cult. When we were raised into undeath, I had gotten intel that they were still around and that when the time comes, they would find the child that escaped, meaning you."

I was shocked by the last part of what Dad had said! He continued. "We're looking for every member that we can find so we can wipe them off the face of this land so that they don't even come near you."

"Only the Titans would know what we would do if the cult got to you." Mother growled, her purple eyes going up in small dark purple flames. "We'd make sure that their deaths would be painful!"

I giggled a little, knowing now where I get my anger from. Mother used a hearthstone and Dad held her closely and they both teleported away with a proud smile on their faces. I suddenly felt a hand on my left shoulder and I heard gasps from behind, so I looked to my right and I saw Illidan's shade in his night elf demon form!

"I'm glad you finally met your parents, my love." He commented, picking me up in his arms and carried me bridal style. "They loved you enough to want to look for you after they were risen."

I cuddled Illidan tightly and I felt him nuzzle his face into my neck. "It's been twice now that I've been able to see you. I thought I could only summon you once a day!"

"It seems that someone had other plans in mind." Illidan chuckled with a smile, nodding at my belly.

"Wait, what? Our child summoned you?" I exclaimed in confusion.

"It sensed that something was amiss with you so I heard its call." Illidan shrugged, putting me back on the ground on my feet. "Are you sure nothing's wrong, my love?"

I looked down, trying to hide my frown but Illidan lifted up my face by chin so I would look at him. "It's just...I've finally found my parents and now they're gone again!" I admitted. "I'm afraid for if they never come back."

"They will, my love." he reassured me. "If you're just like them, they will find their way back to you regardless of the tensions between the Horde and Alliance. Don't forget that the first thing they did when they were raised into undeath was set out on a mission to find **you**. The first thing they thought about when they became undead was **you**. It's already obvious that their love for you is unbreakable, even in death, they still regard you as their daughter. Now I'm sorry to cut things short, but I must go back to the Twisting Nether. When our child called for me, I was in a bit of a rut with some demons over there and so this is sort of terrible timing."

"It's alright, Illidan." I acknowledged. "You go back and fight off those demons. I'll be fine here and I'll make sure our little one knows when it's the right time to call for you."

"I love you so much, sweetheart! We shall meet again." he promised and he reached down to my height and gave me a huge smooch on my lips before fading away.

"My, my..." I heard Alexstrasza speak loudly. "You two really have an unbreakable bond, don't you? I suppose that's what comes with being soulbound to one another."

I chuckled lightly and smiled at the Life Binder. "What will you do now?" she asked me.

"I promised my ex-husband, who was raised as a Death Knight unfortunately, that I would help him with something back in Dalaran." I answered. "Apparently, he's been hearing the Lich King's voice in his head lately and it's gotten so bad to the point where Arthas can actually control him through mental influence. He actually tried to kill me when we both had a heated discussion earlier today, so we made the choice to split up and meet up back in Dalaran to see if our splitting up made a change to him at least.

"Hmmm...although the Death Knights have broken free from the Lich King's will easily, it seems your ex-husband has not been able to let go." Alexstrasza wondered. "If he's still listening to his whispers and all the other Death Knights have broken free from his will, then maybe Arthas having a tighter grip on your ex-husband's mind is for some kind of purpose."

"I'll have to talk to him when I get back to Dalaran." I agreed. "It was nice meeting every single one of you."

"Oh! Let me take you to Dalaran!" Kalec spoke up. "I need to have a talk with Modera about the desecration of the cover of that book you showed me. I'm not entirely happy about that!"

I laughed and nodded to Kalec, agreeing with his proposal. I waved farewell to everyone and I made my way back to my room and grabbed my satchel, making sure the book I have is well kept within the bag. Once I gathered my things, I made my way to that platform again where Kalecgos would be and I noticed he had transformed into his dragon form again and he landed on the platform. After I got to mount him safely, he took off and we both started making our way back to Dalaran, without any dragons coming after us of course!

As we were in the air, I started to think back to what my father had said about me.

_'It all happened so fast after I got her out of there...'_

Then I remembered my mother talking about my father tipping someone off about the cult's base of operations. Who is that someone? Is that person who my father told about the cult the same person who 'saved' me? Then they said something about Paladins rushing to the base to kill every single member, including my father and mother. Who took me away? And more importantly...why?


	18. Accusations and its Reprecussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ludwig, Edua and Alyssana finally meet up again in Dalaran only for the exes to be at each other's throats again! Before it could turn into a physical fight however, they are stopped by Rhonin who is trying to keep peace and no bloodshed in the peaceful magical city of Dalaran. However, Alyssana and Ludwig's argument that almost turned violent has had an effect on them that one of them may not recover fully from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: As you can see from the title itself, I'm thinking of making this chapter and maybe some future chapters be either with both POVs of our main characters or entirely in the Third Person P.O.V. When a chapter title has no P.O.V next to it, it'll be revealed later if it's multiple POVs or if it's Third Person. For now, this chapter will have POVs of both main characters. Also just a heads up, I'm also going to start giving chapters some Trigger Warnings as well since this chapter in particular is going to be a bit dark. If you're not comfortable with Trigger Warnings, it's up to you whether you want to proceed with reading or just skip the chapter! Thanks for reading <3

**_Ludwig's P.O.V (light Trigger Warning)_ **

I had woken up to harsh knocking on my door and for a second, I had almost forgotten that I was sleeping at an Inn in Dalaran! I shook myself awake to wear off the sleepiness and I opened the door to see Edua, looking as if she was roughed up.

"Edua, what happened?!" I exclaimed as she was about to collapse on the floor and I caught her just in time then I brought her onto my bed and made her sit up. "Edua, snap out of it! What happened at Wintergarde Keep?"

"I was so foolish..." she groaned in exhaustion. "I tried to get into Naxxramas and I almost..."

"You almost had your final death..." I muttered, realising what she was about to say. "Why the fuck did I let you convince me to come here? I should've stayed with you!"

"N-no!" She grunted, trying to not think of the pain she was going through. "You had to get to Dalaran, that was what we promised Alyssana that we would do! We were to meet up with her here and help you figure out what's going with your mental influences from the Lich King-ack! Sonova!"

"Just relax and rest as much as you need to." I sighed, patting her back. "I'll go downstairs and see if I can get something or someone to help you with your wounds."

I closed the door behind me and I rushed downstairs to find someone who could heal Edua and lo and behold, a Draenei priestess recognised my expression of distraught. She had silver hair tied up in a massive bun, her horns were curled and she was wearing a silver headdress with an amethyst gem. She also had a long tail that was decorated with the same kind of jewellery she was wearing as her headdress and left eye was lit up while the right eye remained discoloured and bland as if she was blind.

"What troubles you, Death Knight?" She politely asked me.

I bowed to her in respect and I spoke. "My friend came back from Wintergarde Keep and she's pretty roughed up. I'm trying to find someone or something that could heal her wounds since she's in a lot of pain."

"Does she happen to be Edua Brightlight?" She asked me again, making my undead heart jump a bit.

"She's become Doomlight after being risen up as a Death Knight and she would prefer to be addressed by that name." I replied to her. "Do you have something that could heal her?"

"You're talking to a priestess, you know?" She laughed. "Please, may I see her so I can heal her wounds? It's been too long."

"Too long?" I perplexed, then I raised my eyebrows and widened my eyes with realisation. "You knew her?"

"She probably doesn't remember me, but I know her." The priestess confirmed. "I know enough about her to have sorrow for her."

 _'Sorrow? What does she mean by that?'_ I thought to myself but I snapped myself out of my thoughts when the priestess started making her way up to the room I'm staying in with Edua inside.

I opened the door for her and Edua was laying the bed! Her eyes were opened but she seemed to be deep in thought. She looked over to me and saw the priestess and she sat up with a gobsmacked look on her face.

"Tateema?" She gasped. "You're still alive!"

"Old age doesn't work on me, young one!" The priestess chuckled. "I've survived that battle and I've been mourning for your death for so long and now finding you again brings me such joy but it pains me to see you hurt."

"I thought you would be like the rest of them." Edua muttered to her old friend. "I've seen Velen back at Stormwind and he hasn't made the effort to tell me how sorry he is at all!"

_'Sorry? Sorry for what?'_

"He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw you. He just couldn't find the words at that moment, Edua dearie." Tateema sighed heavily. "Knowing what had happened to you all those years ago still haunts him...and me."

I would've asked what Tateema meant by that but when Edua said it aloud, I felt my undead heart shatter to pieces, more than when Alyssana told me of how she met Illidan.

"When I was raped..." Edua sniffled, her lower jaw and lips trembling at the mention of it. "Even though I felt unsafe when Velen wouldn't have them executed for what they did to me, I dedicated myself to priesthood to heal myself from what happened, to forget what happened. I remember coming to you after it happened and you helped me find the Light to heal myself and help me overcome it. Then when we were called to battle and I was told to defend **them** , but I couldn't bring myself to go near them! That's what led me to my undeath, Tateema! I refused to heal my rapists and I was denied resurrection by the Light!"

"Edua..." Tateema started but she was immediately cut off by Edua's ranting.

"Then when I came back into undeath, I tried to reach out for Velen and others but I had not the courtesy of a goddamned reply!" Edua cried out, walking around and bursting out into tears, not facing Tateema. "I wanted to ask him, 'why didn't you have them killed?', 'Why couldn't you do it?'. But then I remember that our race is brought up to be peaceful and not violent, yet what kind of Draenei are **they** to do what they did to me?! When I was raised into undeath, I abandoned that mindset of being peaceful hence why I turned to bloodshed and any village I come across that's filled with the living, I would be swimming in their blood!"

Tateema was speechless, hearing Edua talk about her lust for gore and violence. "But then..." Edua choked, looking at Tateema with tearful eyes. "...I met Agronak! He's not like me and he's not a Draenei either. But for an Orc, he's so sweet and peaceful that when he came across me, all he did was ask if I wanted to go raid a village with him."

"So he was peaceful for a Death Knight?" Tateema asked Edua in confusion.

"Oh no, no of course not! He was violent too!" Edua answered the elderly priestess. "In fact, he used to be married once, like my friend Ludwig, except his family was brutally murdered and he went a rampage, trying to find their murderer and he died trying to avenge them. So when he met me, he was respectful and we had shared stories of our living lives and we bonded with each other through our tragedies. Later on, after a few village raids, that's when he asked me to be his mate. It's silly I know, but in Orcish tradition, a male going on a hunt with a female is their way of courting them."

"I will say, you're lucky you're undead because if you were going steady with an Orc **while you were alive** , imagine the outrage our people would have, including Velen because they, the Orcs are the reason why we had to leave Draenor and we had to crash land here on Azeroth." Tateema reminded Edua.

"I know, but we need to learn to put the past behind us." Edua replied.

Before she could continue, I had a Blood Elf soldier walk up to me as if he wanted to tell me something. "Excuse me if I'm interrupting anything, but I heard that a Miss Doomlight was here?"

"Yes, I am Edua Doomlight!" The gore Princess spoke up. "What is it? Has something happened to Agronak?"

"No, but he asked me to ask you if you could go meet him in the gardens." the Blood Elf replied with a polite tone. "He just came back from the Wrathgate because I'm ashamed to say it but everyone keeps giving him a hard time."

I heard Edua make a rushed sigh through her nose and she nodded. "Of course I'll go see him. Thank you for telling me!"

The Blood Elf nodded back and walked away. Edua found a nearby mirror started primping herself up! Tateema quickly healed her with the power of the Light and helped Edua prepare herself to meet up with Agronak. I was about to walk away to go down to the bar and I saw a familiar face in the room.

"Thassarian?" I called out, then an all too familiar Blood Elf looked up with dead yet glowing eyes. "Unholy shit, Koltira?"

"Oh hey, Ludwig! Come on down and have a banter with us!" Thassarian chuckled with a smile on his face.

I shook my head with a laugh and joined him and Koltira at their table. "So what's the news?" I asked him immediately.

"Well, I thought about your offer from earlier about joining you and Edua to meet up with Alyssana. Then I saw Koltira was on his way here so I joined him." Thassarian explained. "Speaking of the mage herself, has she been here yet?"

"I have heard a few whispers that she was here moments ago, but she went off somewhere." Koltira spoke up. "And even the unsavoury whispers of you, Ludwig."

"Meh, I don't pay much mind to them." I shrugged. "So she was here! I wonder where she went off to..."

**_Alyssana's P.O.V_ **

As I landed on the platform in Dalaran, I had help getting off Kalecgos and once he transformed to his human form, he escorted me into the city and to an Inn called "Legerdemain Lounge". Once I was there, he said that he needed to go have a little chat with Modera since I could tell he was still pissed off with Modera damaging the cover art of the book I showed to him. I walked into the inn after walking up a small flight of stairs and I immediately saw Ludwig talking to two other death knights that I don't recognise. They haven't noticed that I'm here, so I walked up to them and they still were into their chatter and I had to clear my throat loudly in front of them to get their attention!

"Oh shit, hey Alyssana!" Ludwig choked on his beer. "Didn't see ya there!"

"Speak of the witch herself!" Koltira laughed. "Would you like to have a seat with us?"

"Yes, of course, it's been a very long yet amazing day." I replied, taking a seat next to Thassarian and Ludwig. "So what's the topic? What are we talking about?"

"We were talking about what we would do after the Lich King is defeated. I said that I'd commit myself to the duties of the Horde but to also never stray from The Ebon Blade either." Koltira chattered.

"I was thinking of maybe travelling around Azeroth and if the Alliance would still have me, I'd gladly fight for them." Thassarian mentioned. "What would you do?"

"I honestly don't know, but we'll have to wait and see until my baby is born." I replied with a smile at both him and Koltira.

"Ah yes, I had almost forgotten that you're pregnant! Congrats!" Koltira spoke up with a happy tone. "How is the little tyke in there? It's always miracle when it comes to pregnancy."

"It is! My little one is alright, it's been very active lately and it's also very alert to its surroundings and the environment too." I chuckled, softly patted my belly. "But at least it's still healthy and happy."

"Uh hello, did you forget about me already?" Ludwig spoke up sarcastically. "I'll need to speak with you in private soon, I have something important to tell you."

"You'll have that time now since we both have to return to our duties." Thassarian acknowledged quickly, nodding at Koltira that he needed to leave as well.

When both death knights were gone, I turned my attention to Ludwig who had an alarming look on his face. "What is it, Luddy? Is something wrong?" I asked him politely.

**_Ludwig's P.O.V_ **

"Have you ended up finding your parents yet?" I questioned her in a serious tone.

"Yes I have!" She exclaimed excitedly then she started to blabber on, but I couldn't stop her. "Turns out they were looking for me as well! Unfortunately they're Forsaken, but they still love me and remember me! And they still have the facial markings of the cult they used to be in and I'm not sure if you know this, but the Fel Fissures that show up on my face when I use my Fel magic dictate which family I'm from in that cult! And as it turns out, my parents have the same Fel Fissures that I do so they truly are my parents!"

At first, I wasn't sure if I should burst her bubble and tell her that her parents aren't to be trusted, but I have to tell her. She has to know!

"Alyssana, are you sure they're your parents?" I asked her calmly, hoping she doesn't get upset.

"Of course they are, weren't you listening?" She replied with an annoyed tone. "The cult I was born in was made up of families. The only way you can tell which member is from which family is by the patterns of the Fel Fissures on their face! Since I have the same pattern as those two Forsaken I saw back at Wyrmrest Temple, that proves that they're my parents! I'm the only child too!"

"You can't just trust them off the bat, Alyssana." I stated, shaking my head. "What if they made up those patterns on their face to look like yours? What if they're just tricking you into thinking they're your parents?"

That's when she stood up with a disgusted look on her face. "How could you fucking say that to me?! If I recall, **you** were the one who wanted to help me find my parents and I found them! Now you're telling me that I shouldn't trust them? Why?!" She shouted at me, causing the whole of the room to turn their heads to us.

"Well, they're Forsaken which means that they are part of the Horde! You know how Forsaken are, they could easily turn their back on you!" I warned her but it didn't help her mood.

"Just because they're part of the Horde and that they're Forsaken doesn't change the fact that they're my parents and that they wanted to find me!" She argued with tears running down her face. "Besides, who are you to say to never trust the undead since you're one yourself?! What the hell has gotten into you, Ludwig? Telling me to not trust my parents just because they're part of the Horde?!"

"A few death knights have encountered them and they were attacked by your so-called parents!" I defended, standing up and slamming my fists on the table.

"Oi, if you two are going to argue, take it outside please!" the innkeeper shouted at us.

Alyssana growled under her breath and stormed away from me! I could tell that she was letting the Fel take over again as her growl sounded more demonic than humane.

"Hold on, don't you dare walk away from me!" I shouted, following Alyssana. "I'm not finished talking to you!"

"Well I am, Soulterror! I'm done being affiliated with you!" she yelled, still walking away from me. "And stop following me!"

"No, we're settling this! Right here, right now!!!" I bellowed at her and it made her stop walking.

Her hands were balled into fists and they were slightly shaking in place. The townsfolk in Dalaran and the onlookers back at the Inn were watching the whole thing unfold, seeing Alyssana show her true colours.

**_Alyssana's P.O.V_ **

I felt the Fel burning within me again, threatening to take control if I take action. I focused my mind on contacting Illidan through telepathy for guidance as I felt stuck on what to do next.

_'Illidan...what do I do? How am I supposed to believe this undead moron talking shit about my parents when I've met them face-to-face?!'_

_"Well the answer's there, my love! He hasn't met them and they would surely have no problem dealing with him! if they were to come with you here! But right now, I need you to calm down. I don't want the baby to get upset either by his hostility."_

_'I want to silence him! How dare he talk about my parents the way he did?'_

_"Just try to diffuse the situation without getting violent!"_

_'I tried by just walking away but he persists that I talk to him and I don't want to!'_

_"Again, try to diffuse the situation without violence!"_

I sighed through my nose like a bull and I turned around to face Ludwig. The townsfolk were watching closely to see if a fight would take place in the peaceful city of Dalaran. I caught a glimpse of my foster-mother, Baratea and she looked worried, thinking I was going to explode in Fel Fury. I exhaled, trying to calm myself down and I looked Ludwig dead in the eye.

"Do you have any idea about how hypocritical you are? Telling me that my parents aren't to be trusted when I encountered them hours ago." I started, then I slowly stepped closer to Ludwig. "They said to me that ever since they were raised into undeath, all they could think about was me. My father even told me that he saved me, albeit he had to get someone to save me since he couldn't exactly stray away from the cult like that. Despite him being in said cult, he along with my mother got me out of there for a reason that I have yet to find out! Now think about all those years ago, you wanted to help me find my parents because I kept mentioning that I wanted to find them and ask them why they didn't come with me to Dalaran. And now present day, I finally found them and not to mention I'm overjoyed and yet, you try to put me down by saying that I can't trust them after all they went through looking for me."

Ludwig stood his ground, his fists balled up and shaking and I could tell he was clenching his jaw. I pressed further, this time interrogating him!

"Who told you to tell me that I shouldn't trust my parents?" I asked him, finally seeing green overlay my eyesight.

I'm usually not happy when I feel the Fel taking over, but this time I am glad that the Fel has risen within me, to show Ludwig that I'm not to be messed with. I saw the lump on his throat move a little as if he was swallowing.

"Darion told me to tell you about your parents." He admitted and the onlookers gasped in unison. "He specifically told me to warn you about them."

"And you're going to take his word for it?" I questioned him again, my body temperature rising a little and I could tell from the reflection of an onlooker's eye that my body was covered in Fel green smoke.

He shot a death stare at me before speaking. "Your parents attacked my comrades, so of course I had to take his word." he retorted

I glared at him but then something clicked! "How did your comrades come across my parents?" I questioned him yet again.

He remained silent, the bystanders now looking at each other in worry, some of them covering their mouths in shock. I growled and my voice become demonic.

"I will ask you again, Ludwig! How did they come across my parents?!" I shouted at him.

"W-wait! I can vouch for him!" I heard a deep voice call out and an Orc Death Knight came running to us and got in between me and Ludwig.

"Agronak, what are you doing?" Ludwig growled at the Orc.

"Telling her the truth that Darion wouldn't tell you!" the Orc replied then he turned to face me and began to explain himself. "Alyssana, my name is Agronak, son of Hurlgak and I'm the partner of Edua Doomlight, you may have met her during your travels here. I was meant to keep this secret, but I knew Darion wouldn't tell Ludwig because he knew that he was affiliated with the search of your parents all those years ago. Darion had sent Death Knights after your parents because they found dead bodies that were reported to be innocents but later we discovered that they were cult members. We were only going to bring them in for questioning but the Death Knights that were sent to find them tried to rough them up and so they were attacked. Obviously, they didn't want to be found but now that you tell us that they were only trying to find you, it clears up everything."

"They did mention that they were trying to extinguish the existence of the Shadow Fel Eyes cult." I mentioned to Agronak, my voice returning to normal. "They were killing the remaining cult members because they want to find the child that escaped, meaning me."

Now everyone in Dalaran started to whisper to each other, gasping in surprise and in slight panic.

"So they're killing every cult member to protect you from them." Agronak sighed. "Alright, that clears things up. That's something we can tell Darion."

"Who's we?" Ludwig scoffed.

"Obviously he means me, Ludwig!" Edua spoke up, standing out from the crowd. "We'll go back to the Archeus and tell Darion that he has no reason to look for Alyssana's parents nor bring any harm to them. However, we will somehow have to ask them permission for us to join the hunt for these cult members if they pose a threat to Azeroth as well!"

I finally had the chance to take a deep breath but Ludwig cut in, enraging me even further! "It doesn't matter if they're trying to wipe out an entire cult that they were once a part of! What if they're just wiping out the rest of the cult so they are the only two cult members surviving so they can take leadership?!"

"Enough!!!" I shrieked in a demonic voice, letting the Fel take over me completely and using my Fel magic that now ran through my veins, I silenced him by materialising a Fel Flame hand around his throat, squeezing it tightly.

Agronak and Edua stepped far away from me and Ludwig and as I heard screams of fear and panic from the townsfolk, I got much closer to Ludwig, making him get down on his knees. "I've had enough of you, Ludwig Holton!" I growled, my voice becoming completely demonic. "I knew I shouldn't have joined you on this mission, taking down the Lich King. You are nothing but a walking dead meat sack that's still in love with the ex-wife that killed him by Fel Fire! And I will not be afraid to kill you again and this time, I will make sure you will never be risen again!!"

"Alyssana, stop!!!" I heard a male voice boom out of nowhere and all of a sudden, I was pulled away from Ludwig and my hold on him broke off with me landing on the ground on my buttocks!

I looked to where the voice came from and I saw Rhonin along with King Varian Wrynn! "We will not have bloodshed here while the Lich King is still out there!" Rhonin shouted.

Varian looked at me with worry as I was holding my belly as if to protect it. I sensed for the baby and thankfully, it's still alive in the womb! While Rhonin was trying to get everyone to calm down, I stood up from the ground and I quickly conjured a portal back home to Solitude Lookout.

"Alyssana!" I heard Varian call out but I ignored him and without looking back, I went through the portal.

Once the portal closed behind me, I looked outside and the sky was dark! I turned my attention to a nearby clock and I saw the time;

_ **12:15 AM** _

I sighed heavily and got myself ready to go to bed. When I laid in the comfort of my bed sheets and being covered by the heavy softness of my blanket, my head sinking into the plush of one of my pillows, I finally let it out, but not out loud of course. I let my tears fall from my eyes to my pillow, wetting it as I thought about my parents. They really did save me from the clutches of that cult, but why? What was the cult up to that they had to send me away? What Ludwig had said to me about my parents had sunken into my brain and it hurt even more. Are they really my parents? I couldn't stand to think about it! As I was about to close my eyes to go to sleep, I felt a presence within my room! I sat up quickly and wiped my tears away and looked around my room! I couldn't spot the shade of Illidan anywhere within my room, but then I looked at the balcony...

**_Third Person P.O.V_ **

After Rhonin had gotten everyone in Dalaran to calm down after the showdown between Alyssana and Ludwig, he returned to Violet Hold to have further discussions with King Varian Wrynn about a possible Old God presence somewhere within Northrend. Back outside however, Ludwig had sulked off to the Legerdemain Lounge and even though he and Alyssana caused a ruckus, he was still able to get himself a drink, a big flask of mead of all things! Edua and Agronak went to check on him and he obviously didn't have a very a happy look on his face as it was more of one that was full of misery, regret and anger. Agronak was about to attempt to talk to him but Ludwig guzzled down the rest of his mead and from the looks of him, his walk was a little bit wobbly and he stumbled his way back to his room. The Orc and Draenei death knight couple would've followed their troubled fellow death knight who was their close friend, but they had to keep to the promise of telling Darion that Alyssana's parents are not a threat as of yet. Agronak summoned a death gate and both him and Edua nodded at each other and went through the death gate to appear at the Archeus. They looked around the current floor they were on and saw Darion looking outside!

"Ah, Edua! Agronak! You're both together again?" Darion perplexed. "I thought you might've gone your separate ways due to the tensions between the Alliance and the Horde."

"Agronak was telling me that the Horde disrespected him due to being undead." Edua sighed, looking at her Orcish lover with adoring eyes. "So he came to Dalaran to relax for a bit until he's ready to go back into the fray."

"It's rather odd of them to be so rude since they have Forsaken in their ranks but Agronak, if you're more comfortable with being around Edua, then I have a mission for the both of you." Darion suggested, then he motioned for both death knights to follow behind him and he hunched over a table that had a map of Northrend, an inkwell with a quill and a beer mug half-full of grog. "Speaking of Forsaken, I'll need you to bring in two of them in for questioning as they may have a lead on a cult that we're trying to track down aside from the Cult of the Damned."

"Those two Forsaken..." Agronak acknowledged. "Do they happen to be Alyssana's parents?"

"Let me guess...she met them." Darion responded with a sigh. "They didn't hurt her?"

"No, in fact it was the complete opposite, according to Alyssana!" Edua added. "She told us that they were looking for her the entire time they were undead!"

"And they mentioned that they're hunting down remains of the cult they were apart of to protect her as they're also looking for her." Agronak spoke up, contributing to Edua's comment. 

Darion stood up straight from being hunched over and he turned to face Agronak and Edua. "So all they were doing was getting rid of the remaining cult members." Darion clarified. "We've also come to believe that there may be a connection to both cults. The Shadow Fel Eyes and The Cult of the Damned! If you can ally with them, ask them if they know anything about The Cult of the Damned. If they know nothing, then just help them hunt down any surviving Shadow Fel Eyes cult member. Report back to me if you've found anything!"

Both Orc and Draenei death knights nodded and saluted the Highlord and walked away. As the couple walked to the other side of the Archeus and teleported to the lower floors using a teleporter, Edua sat down on a nearby chair and let out a huge exhale.

"Is something troubling you, my princess?" Agronak asked his Draenei lover.

"No, not at all, darling." Edua responded, smiling at Agronak with a loving look in her eyes. "I just think we should wait until Alyssana has made contact with her parents again. That's when we'll go to them."

"Or we could ask her to tell her parents about us?" he suggested with a shrug, coaxing Edua into wanting to go to Alyssana herself.

"If I recall, she took a portal to her home in Ashenvale and Varian tried to talk to her." she wondered, holding and tapping her chin. "I'll send her a letter and see if I can have it sent to her swiftly, before she sees her parents again."

"That's a good idea too!" her Orc lover agreed with a thumbs up. "However, shouldn't we check on Ludwig, even though he's probably passed out by now?"

"Ugh, I'm getting sick and tired of trying to help him get back on his feet!" Edua groaned as she brought out a piece of brown parchment paper and brought it on a nearby table alongside an inkwell with a red quill. "He's on his own for now! He needs to learn how to deal with his issues by himself!"

"But you're his best friend, Edua my princess." Agronak worried. 

"I have my limits, my love." she stated and started writing on the paper with the quill.

Once Edua had fully written out her message for Alyssana and she had stashed the letter in an envelope and sealed it with wax, she had a skeletal raven hold the letter in its bony beak and it flew off and away from the Archeus. 

Ludwig was still wide awake in his room, his facial expression filled with regret and his undead heart trembled with the horror of a flashback to the moment of his death. He had seen Alyssana in her Fel enraged form before but this time however, it really did feel like she was going to kill him! Unable to breathe properly due to being re-traumatised by Alyssana's viciousness, all Ludwig could do was suffer in silence for even questioning her about the truth of her parents. 

'Should I have kept to myself?' he thought. 'If I had just shut up and let her talk about how happy she was finding her parents again, maybe I wouldn't be feeling like this!'

He sat up and went to grab his satchel to grab out his journal from when he was still alive. He went back to a page where he had written about how much he loved Alyssana and how he truly fell for her. The journal reads this;

_20th September Year 20_   
_"She was kind to me when I met her. Sure it was after Dalaran was almost destroyed by Archimonde but she had told me that she found comfort in my presence. The way she smiled at me, the way she laughed! She still grieves not knowing her parents living status and she keeps worrying about if anyone had survived the near-destruction of Dalaran. I hope that everyone is okay for Alyssana's sake as I'm putting together a little birthday present for her birthday which is in ten days now! I'd do anything to make the love of my life happy."_

He felt his eyes well up with tears but he didn't sob nor whimper. His facial muscles didn't even exert the emotion of Ludwig being down as his lips stayed still. He flipped through a few pages to find a blank page and he stared at it in deep thought. It wasn't until he found a folded piece of paper at the back of his journal, as if to bookmark the very end! He took out the paper and opened it to find an old and wrinkly note he had kept that had Alyssana's handwriting. 

_"Meet me at the gardens tonight. I need to speak with you on an important matter.  
-Alyssana x"_

A slight smile formed on Ludwig's face but it was a sad one. After taking a deep shaky breath and exhaling slowly, he folded the note again and bookmarked his journal with it. _'I might write it in again, when I'm not so miserable.'_ he thought. He took off his armor and got himself ready for bed, but he wouldn't shut his eyes. All he could do was picture Alyssana sleeping next to him and he found peace within this past image of her, before everything crumbled between the both of them.


	19. Learning What's Best for Her (Alyssana's P.O.V)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alyssana spends time at her tower in Ashenvale to think about what happened back at Dalaran. After realising that the Fel has been taking over her violent actions of late, she decides to stay home to try and re-learn how to maybe suppress the Fel again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Mentions of self-harm and mental illnesses (severe depression)

I saw a shadow at the edge of the balcony that was connected to my bedroom! I got up from my bed and used my magic to put on my robe then I walked over to the balcony to see a crow sitting on the ledge of the balcony that overlooked the lake and it's starry reflection of the night skies above. I cautiously walked near the ledge and the crow didn't move! I shook my head with a giggle and I decided to lean on the ledge on my forearms to look at the stars. I heard the crow make a slight squawk as if to grab my attention and all I did was smile and wave at the curious crow. As I was looking up at the sky, I could make out a constellation that looked like a pair of dancing beings! The longer I stared at the constellation, the more animated it became and I suddenly saw Illidan in his night elf form and me dancing gracefully. I felt the need to cry again, knowing that Illidan is in the Twisting Nether and I've already used up so much of my magic to summon him to me. Once when Ludwig almost attacked me while he was under possession by the Lich King then another time when my baby summoned Illidan to come to my side for a brief moment. Then I found myself humming a small little tune, feeling the sorrow within my soul and I began to sing, as if I forgot the crow was listening.

_"In time, you'll return._   
_In time, you'll come to me._   
_But the day you're no more_   
_My love will last forevermore."_

I stopped singing when the crow suddenly flew away and even though I was glad the crow wasn't around anymore, I felt lonely again. I realised that a sun chair was on the balcony as well, just incase the sun would come out, but I'd also use it just to gaze up at the stars. I sat down and lifted the back of the chair to sit up straight rather than being laid back and I breathed in and out with content. I traced circles around my belly and I felt the baby move suddenly! As much as it almost made me want to use the latrine, I laughed a little and I decided to play a little game. I traced quick little circles on parts of my belly and every time I let my finger stray for a little too long, the baby would move to that spot where I traced circles with my finger. I got tired from giggling too much and I continued looking at the stars until I thought about what happened back at Dalaran. I realised that this whole time, I've been letting the Fel get to me too easily to the point where I did almost kill Ludwig and for the first time ever, I'm actually regretting hurting him like that. I do hope he still remembers that I have problems too but I also hope he can forgive me.

_"He will forgive you, my love. These things happen! Everything will be okay!"_

I heard Illidan's voice in my head echo those words and I instantly started bawling like a big cry baby, my lower jaw trembling and my heart started to pound with panic and anxiety.

_'Oh god...what have I done? What have I done?!'_

** Flashback **

_ "Oh god! Illidan!! What have I done?! What did I do?! Oh fuck!!! I didn't mean to...I-" _

** Present day **

That flashback caused me to cry out loud in agony, making me remember what I did to Norwell, but making the pain so much more vivid! I lost myself to my tears and I started to mumble to myself as I made my way back to my bed, snuffed out the candlelight, got under the covers and curled up in a ball, being careful of my belly.

_'Oh god, Ludwig...I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I couldn't control myself, I'm so, so sorry!'_

I bawled even harder, letting my tears flood my eyes and stream down my face until I heard wings flapping at the balcony again! I sat up quickly, wiping my face dry from my tears soaking it and using my Fire magic, I lit up the candle again! Then a strange night elf with green hair and a beard of the same colour, antlers, aqua glowing eyes, lavender purple skin and wearing brown leather armor came walking in! I was about to summon an Arcane blast but he quickly spoke.

"W-wait, mate of Illidan Stormrage!" He stammered then he cleared his throat. "I am Broll Bearmantle! I'm a friend of Varian Wrynn, the king of Stormwind."

I put my hand down that was powered with Arcane magic and I sighed heavily. "Has he sent you to tell me I'm no longer needed for the mission?" I monotoned.

"No, he asked me to try and help you gain control of your Fel magic." the night elf replied, sitting at the edge of my bed. "He told me what happened back at Dalaran with you and your ex husband. From the way I see it, he could've worded everything so differently."

"It's also my fault that I let my guard down and I lashed out." I muttered. "I don't think I can bring myself to face him tomorrow."

"From what I can understand about you is that anger is your number one trigger, correct?" Broll asked me in a gentle tone and I nodded in reply. "And you're afraid of getting angry too often because it would cause stress to your baby?"

To that last remark, I nodded again. Then the night elf stood up and waved his hand that glowed a bright green with images of leaves in different shapes over my belly.

He smiled and chuckled. "By Elune, your child is a trooper! Even with all that usage of Fel magic which is usually harmful to all living things, your baby is unaffected by it! I hope this isn't too inappropriate to ask but was Illidan in his demon form when you and him-"

"Yes, he was!" I cackled. "Now that I think about it, that was the only time he did that."

"I won't pry any further but the real reason I'm here is to learn about how you have this Fel magic in the first place." Broll stated. "Varian only told me briefly that you were born with it."

"I was born in a cult that thrived on the use and practice of Fel magic. As soon as I was born, I was fed Fel energy and it's been within me ever since." I explained to him. "And according to my parents who I discovered had died after I was saved from the cult but they were reborn as Forsaken, the only way you can tell that someone is from the Shadow Fel Eyes cult is through a facial pattern called Fel Fissures. Currently, I can't show them on demand yet but it's known that when I get angry, upset or if I'm grieving, that's when the Fel Fissures appear on my face! And the cult is made up of families so members can have different facial patterns to differentiate which member is from which family as their families share the same Fel Fissure patterns."

"My, my, that cult sounds quiet unique!" Broll marvelled. "Although, do you know the reason why you were saved?"

"No, not yet." I shook my head in reply. "My parents said they would somehow send a letter telling me that they would like to meet again."

"Well where are they now?" Broll asked me.

"They're off to hunt down the remains of the Shadow Fel Eyes cult as they got intel that the cult is still around and they're looking for the child that escaped almost two decades ago." I responded. "And that child is me!"

"So they're hunting down any remaining cult members so they can thwart their search for you!" Broll exclaimed. "That is evident that they still care about you if they're doing it for your safety."

"Yes that is true, but..." I chuckled then I felt my depression returning.

"What is it, Alyssana? Is something wrong?" Broll asked with concern in his voice.

"It's just what Ludwig said about them. It cut me deeply and I don't know what to think anymore." I shuddered, trying not to cry again. "That's what made me lash out at him. I attacked him for talking dirt about my parents when he hasn't even met them yet."

"He's your ex-husband though!" Broll scoffed with disgust. "How can someone like him even judge what your parents did when it was only for your future AND well-being? They got you out of that cult for a reason and they still recognise you as their daughter, right?"

I nodded, sniffling. "Yes they do."

"I know you may have regrets for what you've done to Ludwig today, but think on this for a moment." Broll insisted. "Do you feel deep in your guts, heart and soul that these Forsaken are your parents? And that they love you and care about you as their daughter?"

I nodded again in response. "Yes, they have the same facial markings as me."

"Then you don't need to pay heed to Ludwig's comments about them!" the druid corrected. "Sure that he was warning you about them, but you can't deny your gut feeling about them! Does this help you a bit knowing that you could be right about them being your parents?"

"Yes!" I chuckled with joy. "Thank you for that!"

"It's no problem, Archmage. I still have to help you with your Fel magic problem but it'll have to wait until maybe later on today." Broll acknowledged as he gestured at the nearby clock hanging on the wall.

_ 1:30 AM _

"I think it's about time you get some sleep, mate of Illidan." Broll mentioned. "If you'd like, I can tell Varian to give you maybe a week off from the mission?"

"Yes, please." I answered. "Thank you again, Broll. I needed to hear it from someone who doesn't know me entirely and that they could see it from outside of the little box of hell I put myself into and have a different point of view of things."

"It's alright!" he commented. "Remember, only you are the judge and the maker of your own decisions. If you feel what you did to Ludwig was wrong, then that's fine, we all make mistakes! But also remember that he doesn't have the right to tell you what to do or how to feel, you are his ex-wife for a reason! Anyway, I must be off. I hope me keeping you company for a while helped you settle a bit."

"It did, Broll. Again, thank you so much." I thanked him and he transformed into a crow and flew out of my room and through the balcony to the skies.

I rested my head on my pillow and I let out a long sigh of relief, knowing that I don't have to listen to Ludwig. However, I will keep his warning in mind and I may have to ask my parents some questions. For now, I need to sleep and I've been dying to be able to sleep on comfy sheets and as I turned to my right side to snuff out the candle again and got comfy again laying down, I felt an arm snake around my body. I looked down at the arm and I immediately recognised the linen arm wrappings around a clawed hand and the green tattoo on the purple skin of a muscled arm. Illidan physically manifested himself in my presence again and I felt his soft demon lips leave smooches up and down my neck making me gasp in arousal. I turned around and once I saw him in his night elf demon form, I moaned with delight at this sight. He winked a Fel eye at me and he began to smother my lips with his, being so gentle yet passionately loving with his kisses. Getting on top of me and hovering his body over mine, he drove the kiss deeper, shoving his tongue in my mouth and having one hand squeeze my left breast through my robes. We both pulled away for air after our makeout session and Illidan looked me deep in my eyes, softly biting his lip which made me get a little wet down there.

"You're so beautiful." He purred in my ear. "All mine..."

"You're such a flirt!" I giggled as I felt his breathing tickle my neck. "So you've heard what happened?"

"Yes, I did." Illidan replied in a low voice as he turned to his right side on the left side of the bed. "The Fel is taking control of you again, this time it's whenever Ludwig says something that's insensitive to you."

"I have been using my Fel magic of late but that was only when you told me to. Remember back at Dragonblight when I had to do some errands for Modera back at Star's Rest?" I mentioned to him, looking at him from my left.

He sighed and nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, I remember that." he responded. "I think from now on, you shouldn't use your Fel magic unless it's really necessary! And before you even think about it, no! Not for when you need to prove a point to Ludwig. You nearly killed him because of it."

I groaned, listening to Illidan lecture me about using my Fel magic. "Don't you groan at me, sweetheart!" Illidan scolded me, lightly tapping my nose as if I was a bad dog and in response, I tried to playfully bite his finger and when he snapped his hand back away, I giggled but it didn't help the fact that he became cross with me. "I'm trying to be serious and you're not taking your situation seriously!"

I glared at him and turned to my right side with my back facing him. "Oh come on, Alyssana, this is serious, you could've killed somebody! Look, I know you don't really give two shits about Ludwig, but he's a valuable asset to get to the Lich King so he can be defeated once and for all. When that's done, then you can sever ties with him and never hear from him again." he huffed. "Can you please look at me?!"

I growled at him and snuffed out the candlelight. "Alright, I'm sorry I snapped at you, but if you don't want to get in trouble, start learning to suppress the Fel all over again." Illidan murmured, sitting up and leaning over to see my face. "Do you want me to go away?"

I shook my head, trying to bottle up incoming tears. "You didn't see the way she looked at me..." I snivelled.

"Who, my love?" he asked me in a much calmer tone. "Tell me."

"Baratea. The woman who was responsible for raising me!" I wept and I sat up and wrapped my arms around Illidan's torso. "The fear in her eyes when she was watching me have a stand-off with Ludwig! I can't get it out of my head right now!"

Illidan held me tightly and planted multiple kisses on my head and petted it softly. "She raised you as her adoptive daughter didn't she? Which makes her your adoptive mother." he acknowledged and I nodded whilst leaning my head against his toned chest. "Have you had anything to eat at least?"

"I had some mana cookies?" I nervously chuckled.

"No, no, that's not enough!" Illidan laughed, lecturing me. "Have you got anything to eat or anything you can make in the kitchen?"

"But look at the time." I groaned again. "I'm too tired to eat anything."

_ 2:00 AM _

"Ah, yeah but you better have something filling for breakfast, otherwise I'll make breakfast!" he lectured me yet again but with a loving smile on his face and he caressed my left cheek with his right hand. "I'll stay with you throughout the night until lunchtime if you want."

"Please." I whispered to him, my heart beating faster as I said it and immediately, Illidan began to kiss me passionately, making me lay flat on the bed with him on top of me.

As soon as another one of our makeout sessions began, I felt the wetness in my panties again as I felt his tongue dominating my mouth with no mercy. On instinct, I started dragging my nails down his arms, not like my nails could do anything to him and as Illidan pulled away for air, he growled like the demon he is as he shuddered from my recent action. His Fel eyes behind his blindfold glowed with a lustful fiery hunger and he grabbed my throat and squeezed it lightly.

"No one shall take you from me." He snarled as he transformed into his full demon form and leaned closer to my ear and growled into it. "You...are...mine..."

_ 9:00 AM _

I opened my eyes slowly as I heard the songbirds singing outside. Their songs were always beautiful to listen to and it made me just want to stay in bed for a little longer, especially after me and Illidan got to have some fun last night! We were able to do at least 3 rounds before we called it a night and I got to admit, I missed it. Although, it would be better if I knew that Illidan would be staying around permanently in this realm than knowing he'd have to go back to the Twisting Nether soon. I turned around to see Illidan peacefully sleeping on his right side, snoring with his mouth open which revealed his canines and a little drop of drool was about to fall from his bottom lip. This view made me think back to what he said back at Dalaran before I went to the Wyrmrest Temple.

_'If you had a safe place to call home back in Outland and I was close to defeat, I would've escaped and ran back to you!'_

And...

_'I just wish I was still alive.'_

Though it got me thinking about how demons can come back from the Twisting Nether, I didn't want to dwell on the thought for too long as I wanted to admire this sight of Illidan at this moment in time. I caressed his left cheek with my right hand softly and he stirred a little with a purr.

"Illidan..." I softly called out to him, seeing if he would wake up. "Honey, come on. Time to wake up."

He groaned and pulled me closer to him. "No, 10 more minutes!" He sleep-talked. "Stay with...my love. My life..."

His sleep talking made my heart melt and I was trying so hard not to laugh! Seeing how I was closer to him, I thought that maybe if I spoke now, he would wake up?

"Illidan?" I softly called out his name again.

This time, he slowly opened his "eyes" to see me up close to him and he smiled sleepily. "Good morning, my love." He muttered in his sleepy voice. "Can we please stay in bed for a little longer? I'm enjoying this time with you."

"But didn't you wanna make me breakfast?" I giggled, still loving how Illidan sounds when he's sleepy or half-awake. "It's five past nine!"

"Oh alright, I'll get up." he groaned before turning on his back and yawning loudly. "How about I make you pancakes for breakfast?"

"Mmm yummy, yes please!" I hummed. "I think I have a bottle of maple syrup in the kitchen too."

My demon hunter smiled and planted a big smooch on my forehead before getting out of bed and heading downstairs to the kitchen. Soon after, I sat up and got out of bed myself and walked over to the dark oak framed mirror that hanged on the wall on the other side of my room. I noticed how messy my hair was due to Illidan messing it up when we made love last night and so I grabbed a hairbrush on a nearby dark oak dresser and started brushing out all the knots in my hair. Once all the knots were out, I grabbed a fine toothed comb that was also made out of dark oak wood and I combed a fringe out of a not too large piece of my hair that slightly covered my right eye while the rest of my dark brown hair stayed down and wavy. I magically changed my clothes into a simple jade green shirt, black leggings and white sneakers and once I smelled the scent of pancakes in the air, I jogged down the stairs to the kitchen to see Illidan serving up the pancakes on a plate for me. I keep forgetting that even though he's a physical shade here, he can't really eat anything! I took a seat at the dinner table and Illidan sat across from me, staring at a nearby opened book that I forgot was on the table before I left for Outland. It was a book that was about Herbalism and the purposes of herbs for inks and potions. I had left it on the page about a mixture of herbs that could help with soothing one's anxiety and depression, almost like an anti-depressant but it can be in the form of a potion or a pill. As I was eating my pancakes, I saw a small wet patch on Illidan's blindfold where his eyes would be!

"Why didn't you tell me that you suffer from depression?" He muttered.

"It's severe depression actually." I replied. "But I rarely get depressed anymore honestly."

"I know but...I'm just scared of what will happen to you after you give birth." He worried. "I know I won't be here but I don't want the possibility of you doing something...well-"

"Stupid?" I finished his sentence. "Illidan, I've suffered from depression for five years. First it was mild and then it turned into severe and I'll reiterate it again, it's been five years! I think I know better to not harm myself anymore."

Then he perked his head up and his mouth was slightly ajar. "Oh my love! You didn't..."

"Yeah...I fell on rough times after I gave away Marenus for adoption." I sighed heavily. "Knowing I failed him then as a mother, I felt a pain in my heart that..."

I couldn't finish my sentence because I could never talk about what I did to "punish myself" without feeling the need to have a complete breakdown. I was going to say more but I couldn't find the words and I just shook my head and went back to eating my pancakes to prevent myself from crying.

"Sweetie, please eat slowly! I don't want you getting indigestion." Illidan worried again.

I immediately stopped and swallowed my food and my breathing began to get shaky. I felt Illidan's hands grab mine and I put my fork and knife down, then I looked into Illidan's "eyes".

"I know you still feel like a horrible mother for leaving Marenus behind but look at him now!" he consoled. "He loves you and looks up to you to this day. Speaking of which, have you been able to get in contact with him again?"

The last question snapped me out of my depressing mindset then I instantly stood up and went outside with Illidan following closely behind me. I had made sure to tell Tyrande before I left for Northrend two days ago that if Marenus wanted to reach out to me to write me letters as I won't be around much. But seeing as things have changed quickly and drastically, I might have the chance of sending a reply. I looked for the mailbox that was right next to the front door and I opened it to find two letters! One was from my parents and the other had the symbol of the Ebon Blade on the wax seal. I motioned for Illidan to head back inside the tower and I sat down next to him on a red plush couch that faced the fireplace. I opened the letter from my parents and it reads;

_"To our dearest daughter Alyssana,_

_The Warchief of the Horde, Thrall has granted me permission to write to you as he knows of your situation. Apparently, Sylvanas has had spies following our every move and we were sought out, thus we had to tell the Horde's leaders why we interacted with you of all people in the Alliance. But thanks to Thrall, we were not punished and he has given me and your mother permission to freely hunt down the remains of the Shadow Fel Eyes Cult as he too believes they could be a potential threat to Azeroth as well as the Cult of the Damned. However, we haven't been able to establish a connection between the two cults, so we'll have to find out if they're in relations with another cult aside from the Cult of the Damned. With that in mind, we will speak to you soon. If you can reply to this letter, let us know where can meet up with you! Perhaps Dalaran?_

_P.S: Thrall wants to meet with you in person as he's heard from word of mouth that you've been struggling with the use of Fel magic. It's the first I've heard of it but when I learnt more about why you struggled with it, although I don't have a beating heart, it split my heart in two knowing that even as a child, the Fel was about to take over you if you didn't suppress it. Amari has done further research into it and although you had successfully suppressed the Fel for a long time, there are warnings for if its been suppressed for far too long! As I've heard, thanks to Illidan Stormrage, who I've also been informed that you're carrying his child, he got you to use the Fel again after not using it for so long and hence you almost become unhinged if you even feel the slightest emotion of anger. I can imagine that it's worse now that you're pregnant and you're susceptible to negative emotions! I urge you that as soon as you finished reading this message, you send me and your mother a message back so we can help you get your Fel magic under control and if you wanted to, we could find a way to help you be rid of it. We know it's your choice if you want to keep the Fel magic, but we just don't want to see our daughter in pain. Write to us when you can..._

_Love Mum and Dad."_

"I shouldn't have made you do it." I heard Illidan mutter.

"Do what?" I questioned.

"You know, making you use your Fel magic! I should've taken care of Norwell myself!" he growled, but I could sense that he wasn't angry with me, but angry with himself. "That way you wouldn't be struggling with this!"

"Illidan, remember; I agreed to using my Fel magic like that because I wanted to know if Norwell had his intentions set on betraying me and thanks to my agreement, I was proven right." I countered. "What's the next letter about anyway?"

I opened the envelope with the Ebon Blade wax seal and I was able to quickly read through the message. The letter from Edua Doomlight reads;

_"Alyssana,_

_Agronak and I have talked to Darion about your parents and we have concluded that your parents are not a threat. However, he's also given us a mission to help them as he suspects that the Shadow Fel Eyes Cult may have a connection with the Cult of the Damned._   
_Please let us know if you know if you run into them again and let them know that the Ebon Blade wants to join them in hunting down the cult members, if it means making up for our little mishap with them._

_Edua Doomlight."_

I sighed heavily and set the letters aside on the dark oak wooden coffee table that was placed in between the couch and the fireplace.

"Did they write something distressing?" Illidan wondered.

"No." I shook my head and I stood up to stretch my arms and legs. "Edua and Agronak want to meet up with my parents to help them with their hunt and I have to let my parents know that two death knights will be joining them to make up for the two arrogant death knights that tried to kill them. So I've got two letters to write now!"

I felt Illidan grab my left hand with his right hand and he traced circles on my hand with his thumb. "It'll be alright, my love. Just breathe and try to relax! If Broll has already sent word to Varian, you should be able to kick back and relax from all the stress from being in Northrend. Plus, the baby will be much safer here."

"I think it's better that I stay here for now." I added, sitting down and facing Illidan. "Besides, if I am stressed anymore, it will be bad for the baby."

He smiled slightly and he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me softly before holding me close and snuggling me. "Kene'thil surfas." Illidan whispered to me and I looked back up to him.

I was about go in for another kiss until I heard knocking at the front door. "Uhh Alyssana, are you awake? It's me, Varian!" I heard a voice call out.

"Aw fucking damn it!" I cursed quietly

"I have to go anyway, my love." he chortled. "Don't worry, I'll let you know when I can be summoned again."

I huffed, making a pouty face at Illidan. He laughed then kissed my nose and it made me get all giddy inside! After his shade faded away, I stood up and went over to the front door and opened it to find Varian in his usual kingly armor.

"Varian! What are you doing here?" I asked him, wondering how he knew where I lived.

"Broll told me that you live around here so I thought I'd stop by for a visit if you're not too busy." he answered.

"Oh of course, come in! I'll make some tea if you'd like!" I chuckled, inviting Varian inside my home.

He nodded and once he walked in, I shut the front door and we both made our way to the kitchen and I began to boil the kettle. When he sat down at the dining table, I conjured some mana biscuits for us to share and I sat down across from Varian, waiting for the kettle to boil.

"So what brought you to Dalaran yesterday?" I asked him, grabbing a biscuit to munch on.

"Rhonin and Jaina wanted me to talk to them about an Old God's presence within Ulduar at Storm Peaks." he began to explain. "Apparently, Ulduar was a titan-forged residence and the Old God namely, Yogg-Saron was imprisoned there. There are titan watchers placed there to guard the tomb, but all of them came under the influence of Yogg-Saron, which is part of it's existence as an Old God; to manipulate and corrupt. We're going to infiltrate the tomb but I'll need a handful of heroes from every Alliance city to take down the Old God."

"I suppose I'm not needed for the mission because of what happened yesterday?" I asked him again.

"Well, Broll said that you need to take control of your Fel magic again before you can go back out in the field." Varian mentioned. "So I think it's best you take a breather for now, you know. It should give you some peace of mind that Ludwig won't be around you for a while."

"I'll admit this to you, Varian." I deadpanned. "I thought I could care about him without the past being brought up, but it looks like I've been proven wrong, knowing I almost killed him again out of blind rage."

"He did insult your parents without actually knowing them so you had your reasons to put him in his place." Varian bantered, trying to lighten things up. "In all seriousness, he could've kept his mouth shut instead of talking dirt about your parents right in front of you, mind you."

"You and Broll said the same thing!" I scoffed. "'He should've kept his mouth shut!'. I think we all know by now that Ludwig has a problem with spouting out insults to someone when the subject of said insults is listening in. And once he realises what he's done, it's too late and he ends up getting his ass kicked! When me and him were still together, a lot of people would pick on him for being with someone like me and I'd have to jump in and show them who's the bloody boss and not once, excuse my language, have I ever heard him fucking say 'thank you'!"

All Varian did was widen his eyes after I ranted to him about how unthankful Ludwig was from the past and still is to this present day. After I calmed down, the kettle had boiled and I made both me and Varian some honey tea. I told him about my parents wanting to meet up with me again and how Edua and her orcish lover want to work with them to take down any remaining cult member from the Shadow Fel Eyes cult. He then told me to speak to Rhonin at Dalaran to organise a place for the five of us to meet up as he doesn't want to deal with the Horde right now. He knows that Agronak and my parents mean no harm to anyone but he also told me of how him and Garrosh Hellscream almost went at each other's throats back at Dalaran after I left. I told him that I understood how he felt and I opened a portal for him to go back to Stormwind.  
As soon as he was gone, I finally let out a huge sigh of relief, knowing I can stay here for as long as I wanted to and if it can get me far away from Ludwig then that's all I want for now. I hope he starts to get better at blocking out the Lich King from his head so if I do plan to go back to Northrend, he **should** have a better mindset. Then again, he does have a tendency to never listen to me and knowing that he was part of the Cult of the Damned the whole time we were together 5 years ago, it makes me think about what could go wrong with him if things went south. But I didn't let my mind dwell on that as I've felt the baby start moving again, grabbing my attention from my inner thoughts. I rubbed my belly, letting the baby know that I'm okay and I grabbed the book that Illidan was reading when he was here. I read back about a potion that could ease my symptoms of depression so it's not as persistent! The potion was made of a mixture of oils from the petals of Mageroyals and Peaceblooms, a finely crushed powder from the stem from a Dragon's Teeth plant as well as liquids from a tuber of an Earthroot and 2 cups of water in a pot and boiling. I even read about the method of making the potion and it would take about 45 minutes to prepare the ingredients, 1 hour to boil the mixture and 3 hours to let the mixture brew in glass jar with a cork top. I thought about how I have been handling my depression and so far, I've realised that I've had a grip on it for a while but it's whenever I thought about how much I wished Illidan was still alive that my depression settled in. Yet knowing that I'll be stuck here for a while, my depression could come back in full swing! Then I thought about it even more and I realised that after I give birth to my baby, I could become prone to post-natal depression and like Illidan said, there cannot be a possibility that I should think about taking my own life when our soulbind comes to an end and I know Tyrande can't exactly take care of my baby since she's the leader of the Night Elves and that comes with a big responsibility. So I decided to keep the recipe for the anti-depressant potion in mind for after I give birth because there was a warning on the recipe that read;

" **DO NOT** take this potion if you are expecting!"

I put a magical bookmark on the recipe and I closed the book and left it on the dining table. I have to write back to both my parents and Edua so we can all meet up at Dalaran because one; I may have met my parents, but I can't trust them completely enough to come visit my home yet. And two; The least I can do is also find out more about the Shadow Fel Eyes cult and maybe learn about the reason why my parents decided to send me away...


End file.
